/ a 


Fr'aTwuscan  Fathers 
San  DiSgo.   10,  Calif. 


THE  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK   •    BOSTfON   •    CHICAGO 
DALLAS  •    ATLANTA  •    SAN  FRANCISCO 

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MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OP  CANADA,  LTD. 

TORONTO 


THE  SOCIArt 
OF  CHAR 


A  STUDY  OF 
POINTS  OF  VIEW  IN  CATHOLIC  CHAKITIES 


BY 

WILLIAM   J.  KERBY,  PH.D.  LL.D. 

PROFESSOR     OF     SOCIOLOGY     LN     THE      CATHOLIC      UNIVERSITY 
AND    TRINITY    COLLEGE,    WASHINGTON,   D.  C.    SECRE- 
TARY OF    THE    NATIONAL    CONFERENCE   OF 
CATHOLIC   CHARITIES,   1910-1920 


T 


SANTA    BARBARA,    CAJ-UG. 


gotk 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
1921 

All  rightt  reserved 


PRINTED   IN   THE  UNITED  STATES   OP  AMERICA 


COPYRIGHT,  1921, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  printed.     Published  June,  1921. 


Press  of 

J.  J.  Little  &  Ives  Company 
New  York,  U.  S.  A. 


©bstat. 

ARTHURUS  J.  SCANLAN,  S.T.D., 

Censor  Librorum. 

imprimatur. 

4.  PATRITIUS  J.  HAYES,  D.D., 

Archiepiscopus  Neo-Eboraci. 
New  York,  May  7th,  1921. 


TO 
THE  MEMORY  OF  MY  PARENTS 


SOCIAL  ACTION  SERIES 

This  series  will  comprise  several  volumes  pre- 
senting the  Catholic  teaching  on  the  important  so- 
cial and  industrial  problems  of  the  day.  "The 
Church  and  Labor"  has  already  appeared;  "The 
Social  Mission  of  Charity"  is  the  second  volume; 
two  others  dealing  with  charity  are  in  preparation, 
and  also  a  volume  on  Church  and  State.  Other 
volumes  will  be  published  from  time  to  time,  ac- 
cording as  the  need  for  them  becomes  manifest  and 
competent  writers  can  be  obtained  to  prepare  them. 


PREFACE 

THE  scope  of  this  volume  limits  its  contents  to  a  discussion 
of  general  points  of  view  in  Catholic  charities.  On  this 
account  neither  methods  nor  problems  are  treated  in  any 
detail.  The  plans  of  the  Department  of  Social  Action  of  the 
National  Catholic  Welfare  Council  provide  for  a  number 
of  volumes  relating  to  practical  aspects  of  charities.  They 
will  appear  as  circumstances  permit.  Special  bibliographies 
on  problems  and  agencies  are  reserved  to  them.  Since  the 
social  facts  dealt  with  in  a  general  way  are  beyond  dispute, 
although  interpretations  vary,  it  did  not  seem  necessary  to 
weight  the  pages  with  extensive  literary  references.  The 
author  has  endeavored  to  confine  his  interpretations  to  forms 
which  may  invite  but  little  disagreement.  Exposition  rather 
than  argument  was  aimed  at  throughout  in  the  hope  of 
making  general  appeal  for  thorough  understanding  of  the 
wider  mission  of  Charity  in  social  life. 

THE  AUTHOB. 


INTRODUCTION 

THIS  volume  was  prepared  by  the  author  at  the  invitation 
of  the  Department  of  Social  Action  of  the  National  Catholic 
Welfare  Council.  It  is  the  second  volume  of  the  Social  Ac- 
tion Series  of  the  Department.  The  general  purpose  of  the 
series  is  to  explain  the  attitude  of  the  Church  toward  social 
problems,  institutions  and  philosophies  that  engage  the  at- 
tention of  society  at  this  time.  The  object  of  this  volume 
is  to  discuss  fundamental  points  of  view  in  the  relations 
between  Catholic  charities  and  the  prevailing  sociological 
interpretations  of  poverty  and  relief. 

The  author  offers  a  general  analysis  of  the  social  back- 
ground of  poverty  and  describes  the  problems  that  it  causes, 
in  the  terms  of  that  analysis.  Similarly  the  constructive 
aims  of  relief  work  are  set  forth  from  this  standpoint.  This 
method  furnishes  a  simple  basis  of  classification  and  interpre- 
tation of  the  countless  activities  resulting  from  our  general 
endeavor  to  deal  with  poverty  in  the  light  of  practical  social 
ideals.  The  various  phases  of  social  endeavor  to  deal  with 
poverty  are  described  as  steps  in  the  development  of  what 
the  author  terms  "the  supplementary  social  constitution." 
By  showing  the  intimate  relation  between  relief  and  preven- 
tion in  dealing  with  a  single  case  of  dependency,  and  by 
insisting  on  preventive  social  action  against  poverty  as  a 
whole,  the  author  urges  us  to  view  the  entire  field  of  social 
service  from  the  supernatural  standpoint  and  to  invest  with 
high  spiritual  dignity  everything  that  is  done  to  protect  the 
weaker  social  classes  in  the  name  of  charity  and  justice. 

While  insistence  on  the  fundamental  religious  and  spiritual 
character  of  charity  is  found  throughout  the  volume,  it  dis- 
plays nevertheless  thorough  sympathy  with  the  results  of 

xiii 


xiv  INTRODUCTION 

modern  scholarship  and  with  the  organic  view  of  poverty 
which  characterizes  present  day  thought  concerning  it.  The 
author's  repeated  appeal  for  wider  views  of  poverty  and  relief 
and  for  insistent  social  action  to  prevent  poverty,  deserves 
attention  and  acceptance  throughout  the  entire  range  of 
Catholic  charities. 

The  imperative  need  of  doing  this  is  the  basis  upon  which 
the  author  builds  his  appeal  for  closer  coordination  among 
Catholic  charities  and  for  greater  attention  to  other  agencies 
that  work  in  the  field.  There  is  no  disparagement  of  our 
equipment  or  of  our  service  in  the  field  of  relief  in  the  ad- 
mission that  we  have  everything  to  gain  from  the  upbuilding 
of  a  national  social  point  of  view  in  our  charities.  The 
intense  individuality  of  what  the  author  calls  "the  geo- 
graphical and  institutional  units  of  Catholic  life"  is  well 
known  to  us.  Perhaps  we  had  not  adverted  sufficiently  to 
the  fact  that  this  individuality  has  prevented  effective  co- 
operation and  a  large  vision  of  our  problems  and  their 
relations. 

One  notes  with  pleasure  the  absence  of  any  tone  of  fault- 
finding and  the  avoidance  of  extremes  in  the  discussion  of 
practical  steps  to  improve  our  work.  The  author  favors  the 
rapid  development  of  conferences,  increased  use  of  modern 
literature  and  the  production  of  a  vigorous  literature  of  our 
own  on  problems  and  methods  in  Catholic  charities.  But 
back  of  all  of  this  he  suggests  what  is  more  important  still, 
namely,  an  atmosphere  in  which  the  union  of  the  super- 
natural in  attitude  and  impulse  with  the  approved  results 
of  modern  research  and  experiment  may  be  happily  realized. 

My  reading  of  the  proofs  enables  me  to  express  the  belief 
that  the  author  has  interpreted  faithfully  the  sympathies 
of  the  Department  of  Social  Action  and  its  hopes  for  rapid 
improvement  in  the  quality  of  our  work.  As  the  scope  of 
this  volume  limits  its  contents  to  the  discussion  of  general 
points  of  view,  the  author  has  not  gone  into  the  practical 
field  nor  has  he  taken  up  detailed  application  of  the  principles 


INTRODUCTION  xv 

which  he  sets  forth.  These  tasks  are  reserved  to  a  later 
volume  which  the  Department  hopes  to  publish.  In  addition 
to  that  one,  another  is  contemplated  which  will  contain  re- 
prints of  documents  which  have  historical  or  actual  authority 
in  themselves,  and  value  in  indicating  the  drift  of  Catholic 
thought  on  poverty  as  a  social  problem  and  charity  as  the 
source  of  divine  direction  in  dealing  with  it. 

The  Hierarchy  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United 
States  at  its  annual  meeting  in  September,  1920,  voted 
unanimously  in  favor  of  the  immediate  establishment  of  a 
National  School  for  the  training  of  Social  Workers.  This 
is  one  of  the  most  significant  steps  ever  taken  in  the  history 
of  our  charities.  It  indicates  full  recognition  of  the  need  of 
technical  training  for  social  work,  and  of  practical  steps 
toward  the  development  of  a  national  outlook  on  our  problems 
and  agencies.  The  spirit  that  prompted  that  step  on  the 
part  of  the  Hierarchy  comes  to  expression  throughout  this 
volume  on  The  Social  Mission  of  Charity.  It  may  be  com- 
mended to  all  who  are  interested  in  Catholic  charities  as  a 
faithful  interpretation  of  the  mind  of  the  Department  of 
Social  Action  of  the  National  Catholic  Welfare  Council. 

•f1  P.    J.   MULDOON, 

Chairman. 
Bishop  of  Rockford,  III. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

PREFACE xi 

INTRODUCTION xiii 

I.    GOOD  SAMARITANS 1 

II.    THE  BACKGROUND  OP  POVERTY 10 

III.  THE  QUALITY  OF  POVERTY 35 

IV.  POVERTY  AND  ITS  IMPLICATIONS 42 

V.    JUSTICE 54 

VI.    EQUALITY 73 

VII.    CHARITY 83 

VIII.    PROPERTY 94 

IX.    WHO  Is  MY  NEIGHBOR? 101 

X.    PRINCIPLES  IN  BELIEF Ill 

XI.     PRINCIPLES  IN  BELIEF  (CONTINUED)    ....  130 

XII.     THE  SOCIAL  WORKER .139 

XIII.  THE  LITERATURE  OF  BELIEF 146 

XIV.  SPIRIT     AND     ORGANIZATION      IN      CATHOLIC 

CHARITIES 161 

XV.     CERTAIN  PRESENT  NEEDS 178 

XVI.     OLD  AND  NEW  190 


THE  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 


CHAPTEK  I 

GOOD    SAMARITANS 

"And,  Behold,,  a,  certain  lawyer  stood  up,  tempting  him,  and 
saying :  Master,  what  must  I  do  to  possess  eternal  life?  But  he 
said  to  him:  What  is  written  in  the  law?  How  readest  thou? 
He,  answering,  said:  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  thy 
whole  heart,  and  with  thy  whole  soul,  and  with  all  thy  strength, 
and  with  all  thy  mind;  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  And  he 
said  to  him:  Thou  hast  answered  right;  this  do  and  thou  shalt 
live.  But  he,  willing  to  justify  himself,  said  to  Jesus:  And  who 
is  my  neighbor?  And  Jesus  answering  said:  A  certain  man  went 
down  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho,  and  fell  among  robbers,  who 
also  stripped  him,  and  having  wounded  him,  went  away,  leaving 
him  half  dead.  And  it  chanced  that  a  certain  priest  went  down 
the  same  way,  and,  seeing  him,  passed  by.  In  like  manner,  also, 
a  Levite,  when  he  was  near  the  place,  and  saw  him,  passed  by. 
But  a  certain  Samaritan,  being  on  his  journey,  came  near  him, 
and  seeing  him,  was  moved  with  compassion:  and  going  up  to  him, 
bound  up  his  wounds,  pouring  in  oil  and  wine;  and  setting  him 
upon  his  own  beast,  brought  him  to  an  inn,  and  took  care  of  him. 
And  the  next  day  he  took  out  two  pence,  and  gave  to  the  host,  and 
said:  Take  care  of  him;  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  spend  over 
and  above,  I  at  my  return  will  repay  thee.  Which  of  these  three, 
in  thy  opinion,  was  neighbor  to  him  that  fell  among  the  robbers? 
But  he  said:  He  that  showed  mercy  to  him.  And  Jesus  said  to 
him:  Go  and  do  thou  in  like  manner." 

ST.  LUKE,  X  25-37. 

WE  read  in  this  incomparable  parable  of  the  Good 
Samaritan  that  the  priest  and  the  Levite  saw  the  wounded 
man  and  passed  by  unmoved.  The  Samaritan,  social  outcast 
of  whom  nothing  good  was  expected,  saw  the  wounded  man, 

1 


2  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

was  moved  by  compassion,  went  up  to  him,  served  him,  made 
provisions  for  him  and  continued  his  journey  after  promising 
to  return  the  next  day.  The  Samaritan  saw,  felt,  served 
and  remembered.  The  problem  was  simple.  Sympathy  and 
action  offered  no  complexities  and  no  circumstance  hindered 
the  simple  and  direct  relief  of  the  wounded  man.  The  para- 
ble which  involved  but  one  Samaritan  and  one  object  of  his 
pity  expressed  the  spirit  and  law  of  charity  as  Christ  taught 
it.  Now  when  there  are  a  thousand  Samaritans  who  see,  feel 
and  serve,  and  when  there  are  a  thousand  or  ten  thousand 
wounded  men  or  poor  in  need  of  service,  while  resources  in 
persons,  means  and  wisdom  are  plainly  inadequate  to  the 
claims  of  the  sufferers,  a  new  problem  and  a  new  duty  appear. 
The  duty  is  that  of  thinking.  The  problem  is  that  of  man- 
aging. The  outcome  is  found  in  method  and  system.  Charity 
is  "science  ending  in  love." 

We  must  think  about  the  good  Samaritans.  By  thinking 
we  discover  the  qualities  that  they  need,  the  ways  in  which 
they  interfere  with  one  another  or  assist  one  another,  the 
policies  required  to  govern  their  relations  with  one  another, 
the  mistakes  to  which  they  incline,  the  motives  which  actuate 
them,  the  views  that  they  develop  and  teach.  By  thinking 
we  learn  to  interpret  their  experience,  to  avoid  their  mis- 
takes and  perpetuate  their  wisdom.  If  we  permit  the  samari- 
tans  to  obey  even  their  noblest  impulses  and  yield  to  their 
deepest  feelings  of  compassion  as  they  wish  without  relation 
to  one  another,  without  knowledge  of  one  another,  without 
cooperation,  understanding  and  mutual  appreciation,  we 
defeat  the  noblest  of  all  purposes.  We  doom  the  men,  women 
and  children  wounded  by  modern  social  conditions  to  a  neg- 
lect or  a  delay  of  service  that  belies  the  charity  in  whose  name 
we  claim  to  act 

We  must  think  about  the  wounded,  that  is  the  poor.  Ban- 
dits have  never  been  more  sure  in  iniquity  nor  distressing  in 
their  brutal  selfishness  than  have  modern  social  conditions 
been  in  prostrating  the  weak  who  were  unfit  for  their  struggle. 
Kow  thinking  about  the  poor  is  like  any  other  kind  of  think- 


GOOD  SAMARITANS  3 

ing  that  relates  to  facts,  the  explanation  of  them  and  control 
of  the  processes  that  cause  them.  We  are  required  to  find 
the  poor,  all  of  them — not  some  of  them.  Only  thinking  and 
managing  can  do  this.  We  must  classify  them  in  order  to 
find  the  causes  of  their  distress  and  deal  with  those  causes  as 
our  wisdom  guides  us.  We  must  remember,  return,  encour- 
age, befriend  and  serve  until  physical,  moral  and  social 
wounds  are  healed  and  health  is  restored.  We  must  think 
about  the  past  and  the  future  of  the  poor.  We  must  discover, 
measure  and  control  the  processes  in  social  life  that  issue  in 
poverty.  We  must  aim  to  conquer  it  and  bring  high  courage, 
enlightened  patience  and  constant  zeal  into  the  work  if  we 
are  to  do  it  well. 

To  act  as  one  good  Samaritan  dealing  with  one  wounded 
man  in  these  days  would  defeat  every  larger  impulse  of 
charity  and  leave  untouched  much  of  the  misery  of  the  poor. 
It  is  distressing  to  realize  that  many  good  Samaritans  are 
hurting  the  poor  and  promoting  their  agony  by  isolating 
themselves  from  the  policies  that  practical  experience  ap- 
proves in  our  efforts  to  befriend  the  poor.  It  is  equally  dis- 
tressing to  feel  that  tens  of  thousands  of  poor,  men,  women 
and  children,  remain  hidden  in  the  low  valleys  of  their  name- 
less despair  because  our  faulty  methods  do  not  discover  them 
and  our  narrow  views  of  duty  shut  them  out  of  range  of  our 
active  solicitude.  It  requires  only  the  most  superficial  glance 
at  poverty  to  realize  the  imperative  duty  of  thinking  and 
managing  as  we  deal  with  it.  It  requires  only  the  most  cur- 
sory acquaintance  with  good  Samaritans  to  be  convinced  that 
they  and  their  relations  to  one  another  and  to  their  work  make 
necessary  the  most  painstaking  thinking  and  managing  in  the 
interest  of  the  poor. 

An  analogy  is  at  hand.  For  many  years  physicians  dealt 
with  malaria  and  yellow  fever.  Many  of  the  victims  died. 
Some  recovered.  Friends  felt  sympathy  and  expressed  it  in 
the  kindest  of  services  but  sat  helpless  in  ignorance  of  the 
cause  of  the  fevers  or  misled  by  accepted  false  theories  con- 
cerning them.  So  long  as  physicians  dealt  with  isolated 


4  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

cases  or  with  many  cases  guided  by  false  views,  and  confined 
themselves  to  routine  care  of  patients  there  was  no  promise 
of  mastery  of  these  scourges  of  mankind.  But  physicians 
and  scientists  who  began  to  think  with  critical  care  broke 
away  from  the  tyranny  of  routine  and  the  assumption  that 
the  diseases  were  completely  understood.  Thoughtful  men 
searched  for  causes  and  the  facts  of  transmission.  Data 
accumulated  and  were  studied  with  restless  energy.  Experi- 
ments were  made  and  results  were  watched.  False  theories 
faded  away  as  insight  was  slowly  gained.  Brilliant  thinking, 
patient  industry  and  courage  led  to  the  threshold  of  the  truth. 
Brave  men  risked  their  lives  to  test  conclusions.  Truth 
yielded  its  secrets.  The  fevers  were  mastered  and  humanity 
was  relieved  of  its  terror. 

Dealing  with  isolated  cases  would  never  have  accomplished 
this.  Sympathy  with  sufferers  prompted  by  purest  devotion 
would  have  brought  no  emancipation.  Thinking,  industry, 
docility  of  mind  and  cooperation  did  bring  to  us  this  emanci- 
pation. The  lesson  is  before  us.  Sympathy  with  the  poor 
will  never  master  poverty.  Dealing  with  isolated  cases  of 
it  will  never  give  us  insight  into  its  real  nature.  Assump- 
tions concerning  its  nature,  gratuitous  theories  about  it,  self- 
sufficient  attitudes  that  excuse  us  from  efforts  to  learn  facts 
and  their  meaning  can  only  hinder  progress,  prolong  suffer- 
ing and  delay  the  day  of  social  justice.  Thinking,  courage, 
industry,  docile  minds  and  impersonal  devotion  to  intelli- 
gent ideals,  these  and  these  alone  will  prepare  the  modern 
good  Samaritan  for  the  divine  tasks  of  Christian  Charity  in 
the  modern  world. 

No  one  is  required  to  do  everything  for  the  poor  but  every 
one  is  obliged  to  do  something.  There  are  humble  and  simple 
tasks  that  remain  forever  noble  and  forever  necessary  in 
serving  the  poor.  The  happy  face  of  a  little  child  to  whom 
one  gives  its  first  toy,  lights  the  heavens  as  perhaps  no  think- 
ing can  light  them  and  honors  the  benefactor  more  than  his 
philosophy.  Yet  we  must  accept  facts  and  recognize  laws 
of  life  and  action.  If  some  who  could  think  clearly  would 


GOOD  SAMARITANS  5 

serve  awkwardly  they  do  full  duty  by  their  thinking.  If 
many  can  serve  admirably  but  think  with  little  effect  they  do 
their  duty  in  service.  Our  limitations  in  charity,  as  else- 
where, indicate  to  some  degree  the  negative  will  of  God.  We 
may  follow  aptitudes  without  concern  if  we  do  so  under  the 
discipline  of  practical  ideals  and  with  impersonal  zeal.  But 
if  the  Catholic  Church  is  to  meet  her  responsibilities  toward 
society  and  the  poor  fully,  her  representatives  must  be  found 
at  every  post,  doing  every  duty  and  serving  every  high  stand- 
ard that  more  exact  knowledge  of  poverty  presents  to  the 
modern  world.  Much  thinking  is  called  for  to  gain  insight 
into  facts  and  processes  of  poverty,  into  measures  of  relief 
and  prevention,  into  policies  of  social  reform  which  prevent 
poverty,  into  social  theories  which  lead  toward  spiritual  and 
social  truth  or  error. 

The  creation  of  the  National  Catholic  Welfare  Council 
indicates  an  effort  on  the  part  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the 
United  States  to  restate  in  as  far  as  restatement  is  needed, 
her  philosophy  and  policies  toward  national  life  and  its  exact- 
ing problems.  The  Department  of  Social  Action  of  the 
Council  represents  efforts  toward  collective  thinking  and  con- 
certed action  in  respect  of  pressing  social  problems.  This 
volume  and  others  to  follow  represent  the  desire  of  the 
Department  to  study  the  relations  of  the  Church  to  poverty 
and  the  bearing  of  our  new  insight  into  social  conditions  and 
processes  on  the  principles  and  methods  of  Catholic  Charity. 
The  Church  aims  to  give  and  to  receive  in  this  exchange. 

The  charities  of  the  Catholic  Church  are  an  expression  of 
her  understanding  of  the  spiritual  relations  of  men  to  one 
another  and  an  interpretation  of  those  relations  in  the  terms 
of  human  service.  At  no  time  in  her  history  has  the  Church 
failed  to  insist  that  the  determining  relations  of  men  to  God 
and  to  one  another  are  spiritual.  These  relations  are  those 
of  brotherhood.  The  mental  and  emotional  attitude  that 
envelops  that  brotherhood  is  love.  The  expression  of  that 
love  is  completed  in  service.  The  motive  of  that  service 


C  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHAEITY 

rests  in  the  will  of  God.    The  full  realization  of  relationship, 
attitude,  expression  and  motive  is  found  in  Jesus  Christ. 

The  historical  charities  of  the  Church  represent  spontane- 
ous eiforts  of  the  children  of  the  Church  to  take  hold  of  these 
truths  with  unfaltering  loyalty  and  to  establish  instruments 
and  a  spirit  of  service  that  may  make  these  truths  effective 
in  life.  The  authorities  of  the  Church  have  never  failed  to 
encourage,  to  assist  and  to  direct  varied  activities  in  the  inter- 
est of  the  weaker  classes.  These  have  at  all  times  been  modi- 
fied by  circumstances  and  have  taken  on  color  from  conditions 
and  institutions.  Throughout  all  of  the  variations  of  their 
history  we  find  related  phases  of  a  single  process;  that  of 
emancipating  the  strong  from  the  tyranny  of  their  strength, 
releasing  the  weak  from  the  penalties  of  their  weakness, 
imparting  spiritual  vision  and  a  correct  sense  of  values  to 
both  types  and  preparing  the  way  for  brotherly  love  and 
service.  Our  charities  are  the  human  expression  of  a  divine 
love  resulting  from  the  rich  spiritual  initiative  of  Catholic 
life  and  not  from  the  formal  decrees  of  Catholic  authorities. 

Our  understanding  of  poverty  varies  as  knowledge  and 
insight  into  conditions  vary.  The  prevailing  judgment  of  it 
at  any  time  directs  the  impulses  of  service  and  its  organized 
expression.  If  poverty  is  looked  upon  solely  as  the  plight  of 
a  single  person  or  single  family,  the  spirit  of  service  will 
express  itself  in  the  work  of  relief  and  will  be  confined  prac- 
tically to  that  If  instead  of  dealing  with  a  single  dependent 
family  we  take  into  account  hundreds  and  even  thousands  of 
families  we  gain  the  impression  that  poverty  is  a  plight  of 
society  as  well  as  of  the  individual.  Our  impulses  will  oper- 
ate then  in  the  direction  of  action  upon  society  as  well  as 
upon  the  single  family.  Our  aims  and  language  will  be 
different  but  the  spirit  of  Christian  charity  remains  in  full 
vigor  as  we  endeavor  to  modify  social  conditions  and  social 
relations. 

Poverty  is  in  a  particular  way  a  problem  for  the  State. 
It  indicates  the  failure  of  social  justice,  the  protection  of 
which  is  a  fundamental  duty  of  the  State.  Full  duty  toward 


GOOD  SAMARITANS  7 

the  poor  cannot  be  done  without  regard  to  the  processes  of 
legislation.  The  task  of  dealing  with  poverty  takes  on  infi- 
nite complications  at  this  point  since  we  must  attempt  a 
readjustment  of  political  institutions  and  a  deeper  insight 
into  the  processes  of  life  that  defeat  the  benevolent  ends  of 
these  institutions.  The  conscience  of  the  modern  world  ia 
striving  as  perhaps  never  before  to  express  itself  through 
legislation  in  the  interests  of  the  poor.  It  would  be  a  poor 
service  to  Christian  charity  were  we  to  remain  away  from 
legislative  halls  and  to  hold  indiscriminately  to  the  belief 
that  the  service  of  the  poor  in  the  tedious  and  exacting  ways 
of  legislation  lacks  any  of  the  moral  grandeur  that  our  tradi- 
tions attach  to  the  simpler  works  of  relief. 

!N"or  may  we  forget  that  poverty  is  in  last  analysis  a  spirit- 
ual problem,  an  indication  that  something  has  prevented  the 
law  of  Christian  brotherhood  from  its  intended  sway  in  the 
relations  of  men.  We  shall  never  deal  effectively  with  pov- 
erty without  the  thorough  understanding  of  the  nature  of 
Christian  brotherhood,  without  true  vision  of  the  spiritual 
values  of  life,  without  promoting  that  discipline  of  heart 
which  should  lead  the  strength  of  the  world  to  bow  its  head 
in  adoration  before  Jesus  Christ  and  to  accept  with  courage 
the  law  that  sends  the  strong  to  seek  their  holiness  in  the 
service  of  the  weak. 

Since  poverty  takes  on  a  highly  complex  character  adequate 
treatment  of  it  becomes  equally  complex.  Aims  must  be 
stated  with  care,  methods  must  be  tested  by  the  light  of  expe- 
rience and  study.  If  it  is  possible  to  harm  the  poor  by 
faulty  methods  of  befriending  them,  the  methods  that  we 
do  adopt  may  not  be  left  to  the  whim  of  any  one.  They 
should  represent  our  best  wisdom.  All  of  this  means  that 
charity  must  be  scientific.  To  make  it  less  than  that  would 
mean  that  one's  standards  of  service  are  inadequate  or  that 
there  are  no  standards  of  care  in  the  service  of  the  poor.  If 
science  did  not  hurt  theology  on  the  speculative  side,  and  the 
religious  life  develops  science  and  method  on  the  practical 
side,  charity  has  nothing  to  fear  from  science  properly  under- 


8  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

stood  on  either  the  theoretical  or  practical  side.  If  there 
may  be  a  method  in  meditation  there  may  be  a  method  in 
dealing  with  a  dependent  family.  Method  is  the  outcome  of 
science. 

It  is  well  to  beware  of  the  tyranny  of  words,  of  the  inertia 
of  feelings  that  survive  their  occasion  and  of  associations  that 
beguile  one  into  misunderstanding.  There  are  some  who 
have  an  antipathy  for  the  phrase  "scientific  charity."  They 
rule  it  out  of  court  and  excuse  no  use  of  the  phrase  except 
in  condemnation.  In  spite  of  this,  charity  must  be  scientific 
and  it  will  be  this  to  its  advantage  when  we  bring  appropriate 
qualities  to  the  task  of  making  it  scientific  in  the  Christian 
sense.  Sometimes  we  yield  to  a  feeling  of  indignation  when 
mistakes  of  science  fully  warrant  it  We  forget  then  to  sur- 
render the  feeling  when  its  occasion  is  removed.  Doubt  and 
indignation  that  were  justified  a  year  since  may  have  no 
place  to-day.  When  feelings  are  in  this  way  detached  from 
their  cause  they  exercise  a  surviving  tyranny  over  us  which 
interferes  greatly  with  clearness  of  thought.  Some  of  the 
dislike  of  the  phrase  "scientific  charity"  may  be  explained 
in  this  way.  There  are  phases  of  scientific  charity  which 
have  been  associated  with  much  error  in  both  philosophy  and 
policy.  To  refuse  to  ally  science  and  method  with  Christian 
charity  because  they  had  been  allied  with  un-Christian 
philanthropy  hardly  commends  itself  as  the  dictate  of  prac- 
tical wisdom. 

Intelligent  service  of  the  poor  to-day  requires  mastery  of 
much  information,  insight  into  processes,  thought  and  rela- 
tions, application  of  the  lessons  of  experience  to  the  tasks 
in  hand  and  careful  supervision  of  the  results.  That  all  of 
this  can  be  accomplished  without  foresight,  thought,  records, 
cooperation,  is  unthinkable.  To  accomplish  these  results  is 
the  mission  of  scientific  charity.  All  of  this  is  self-evident 
where  information,  sympathy  and  vision  center  on  Christ 
Approach  to  His  spirit  broadens.  It  never  narrows. 
Methods  and  standards  are  means  not  ends.  They  are 
channels  by  which  love  travels  from  soul  to  soul  with  judg- 


GOOD  SAMARITANS  9 

ment  as  its  guide.  No  system  will  exhaust  the  spirit  of 
Christ  or  place  limits  upon  the  range  of  His  love.  System 
and  science  which  arouse  that  love  into  wider  expression, 
multiply  resources  and  increase  our  capacity  to  serve  His 
poor  need  have  no  doubt  that  plenteous  benediction  will  be 
their  portion.  When  we  bring  proper  qualities  of  heart  and 
intelligence  to  the  science  of  Christian  charity  all  will 
go  well. 

"We  are  then  in  an  age  of  scientific  charity.  It  is  no 
longer  a  question  whether  religious  workers  shall  conform. 
They  have  conformed  and,  speaking  generally,  they  have 
conformed  without  detriment  to  their  work.  Science  has  its 
place  in  religious  charitable  work,  and  no  one  deplores  it,  no 
one  would  have  it  otherwise.  We  have  no  reason  to  fear  it, 
rather  should  we  welcome  its  aid.  A  generation  ago  there 
was  some  misgiving,  some  lurking  fear  that  science  might 
oust  the  spirit  of  charity.  .  .  .  We  realize  now  that  science 
can  be  made  the  handmaid  and  need  not  be  the  mistress  of 
the  spirit  in  charitable  work."  (Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  William 
Turner,  address  to  Quarterly  Conference  of  the  Social  Wel- 
fare Council  of  Buffalo.) 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    BACKGROUND    OF    POVERTY 

THE  remote  background  of  poverty  is  found  in  the  diver- 
sified gifts  and  powers  of  man.  Men,  women  and  children 
are  unequal  in  natural  ability  and  in  their  developed  capaci- 
ties. Whatever  our  aspirations  toward  equality;  whatever 
the  approach  that  we  have  attempted  in  democracy,  to  equal- 
ity before  the  law,  we  may  not  neglect,  in  any  study  of  pov- 
erty, this  basic  fact  of  inequality.  As  we  meet  it  in  every 
day  life,  inequality  is  a  highly  complex  product  of  many 
factors  and  processes.  At  every  point  in  life  cross  currents 
of  social  influences  appear  and  modify  the  strength  or  weak- 
ness that  was  our  original  endowment.  In  some  instances, 
weakness  is  traceable  to  personal  fault.  Again,  it  is  due  to 
the  fault  of  others  whom  we  can  name  or  may  know.  In 
other  cases,  it  seems  due  to  social  arrangements  or  condi- 
tions which  are  beyond  the  power  of  any  person  at  any  one 
time  to  correct.  In  much  the  sarnie  way  strength  may  be 
due  to  personal  qualities  or  to  favoring  circumstances  or  to 
relations  with  others  who  are  fortunate.  Thus  we  find  that 
inequality  may  be  due  to  differences  in  intellectual  ability, 
in  moral  traits,  in  favoring  circumstances  and  in  social 
arrangements,  conditions  or  institutions. 

When  men,  women  and  children  are  practically  equal  in 
personal  capacity  and  when  conditions  favor  them  equally, 
they  may  be  made  unequal  by  chance,  by  death,  disaster, 
unexpected  strain  and  stress  that  become  determining  factors 
in  their  fortune.  The  processes  of  life  are  so  complex  that 
one  follows  with  difficulty  any  attempt  at  analysis  which  aims 
to  find  and  measure  factors  that  enter  into  the  determination 
of  our  lives.  However,  it  is  necessary  to  attempt  as  one  may, 

10 


THE  BACKGROUND  OF  POVERTY     11 

to  recognize  the  features  of  inequality  as  it  becomes  a  deter- 
mining factor  in  poverty. 

Human  inequality  does  not  in  and  of  itself  necessarily  and 
at  all  times  cause  poverty.  We  find  nearly  every  element 
of  inequality  among  those  who  are  not  poor.  Ill  health,  igno- 
rance, laziness,  feeble-mindedness,  wrongdoing,  are  found  in 
every  degree  among  those  with  abundant  income  as  well  as 
among  the  so-called  poor.  It  is  necessary  to  sketch  the  con- 
ditions and  discover  the  atmosphere  in  which  human  inequal- 
ity is  made  a  determining  factor  in  causing  poverty.  This 
is  brought  about  by  the  economic,  political  and  cultural  organ- 
ization of  life. 

The  economic  background  of  poverty  is  found  in  this,  that 
these  unequal  men,  women  and  children  are  forced  to  com- 
pete for  a  living,  that  is  for  property  or  income.  All  are 
thrown  upon  their  own  resources  and  driven  into  the  com- 
petitive struggle.  When  the  full  logic  of  this  struggle  is 
understood,  we  find  that  life  is  organized  on  the  basis  of 
selfishness.  In  tendency  we  are  taught  and  compelled  to 
learn  to  think  much  of  self  and  little  of  others.  We  are 
encouraged  to  accumulate  beyond  needs  and  permitted  to 
acquire,  hold  and  use  property  as  we  wish.  When  the  com- 
petitive struggle  is  practically  without  restraint  and  the 
appeal  to  selfishness  is  fundamental,  competition  among 
unequals  can  lead  to  but  one  outcome,  the  victory  of  the 
strong  and  the  defeat  of  the  weak.  There  are  many  degrees 
of  victory  and  many  degrees  of  defeat.  The  poor  are  they 
who  are,  for  whatsoever  reason,  unable  to  gain  income  in  the 
unequal  struggle. 

This  competitive  struggle  has  not  worked  universally  with- 
out various  forms  of  restraint  and  modification.  Conscience, 
family  affection,  temperament,  social  imagination  have  mod- 
ified its  severity  often  and  have  lifted  many  of  the  weak 
above  the  lower  levels  toward  which  competition  naturally 
drove  them.  But  the  combined  action  of  the  corrective  forces 
with  which  we  are  familiar,  has  not  been  of  a  quality  which 
prevented  the  harsh  extremes  of  the  struggle  from  prostrating 


12 

many.  Whatever  the  correctives  that  we  allege  as  easing 
these  extremes  and  whatever  the  philosophy  that  we  invoke 
in  defense  of  competition,  the  essential  explanation  of  mod- 
ern poverty  is  to  be  found  in  the  competitive  struggle  carried 
among  unequals  in  a  spirit  of  socially  approved  selfishness. 

Now  this  outcome  of  competition  would  have  been  pre- 
vented or  greatly  modified  if  we  had  not  lived  under  a  state 
whose  philosophy  and  policies  prevented  it  from  interfering. 
The  individualistic  state  based  on  the  policy  of  large  eco- 
nomic freedom  as  to  contract,  enterprise,  property,  industry, 
was  hindered  very  greatly  by  its  constitution  and  traditions 
from  curbing  the  strong  or  aiding  the  weak.  Since  the  strong 
were  well  represented  in  every  branch  of  government,  sympa- 
thy even  in  fields  where  the  state  might  have  acted,  was 
diverted  away  from  the  weak.  The  distinctive  features  of 
modern  industrial  conditions  were  not  anticipated.  Laws 
were  remedial  rather  than  preventive  of  abuses.  Information 
was  slow  in  penetrating  public  opinion.  The  weak  were  not 
vociferous  and  the  strong  were  nimble  and  resourceful.  In 
consequence  of  this  process,  the  weak  competitors  were  left 
largely  to  the  action  of  the  selfish  struggle.  The  minor  cor- 
rectives already  mentioned  operated  favorably  in  the  lives 
of  many.  They  were  not,  however,  numerous  or  strong 
enough  to  overcome  the  terrific  pressure  of  unrestrained  self- 
ishness. Poverty  became,  therefore,  the  outcome  of  compe- 
tition among  unequals  conducted  under  an  individualistic 
state. 

This  outcome  might  have  been  prevented  and  the  history 
and  character  of  poverty  might  have  been  much  less  pitiful 
had  the  social  ideals  of  the  Christian  life  not  been  greatly 
weakened  by  the  industrial  process  and  its  accompanying 
spirit  and  conditions.  We  find  in  this  collapse  of  ideals  and 
the  weakness  of  idealistic  forces  the  cultural  elements  in  the 
background  of  poverty  which  became  determining  in  its 
history. 

Had  human  life  been  held  in  Christian  reverence  and  had 
property  been  valued  always  as  secondary  to  it,  the  inhumani- 


THE  BACKGROUND  OF  POVERTY     13 

ties  of  competition  would  have  been  in  large  measure  pre- 
vented. The  beatitudes  would  have  become  our  social  axioms 
and  their  triumph  in  the  industrial  world  would  have  been 
our  glory.  Home,  school  and  church  as  channels  of  culture 
would  have  been  in  position  to  check  or  correct  such  vicious 
tendencies  of  competition  as  would  have  appeared  in  any 
case.  But  the  subtleties  of  selfishness  invaded  philosophy, 
controlled  policies,  caused  sympathies  to  shrink  and  imagi- 
nation to  suffer  eclipse.  Social  ideals  were  gradually  chilled 
into  inaction  and  the  industrial  process  exempted  itself  from 
the  discipline  that  they  would  have  imposed.  Life  was 
divided  into  stubborn  sections  that  refused  to  merge  in  the 
harmony  of  a  divine  unity.  Industry  became  foreign  to 
religion.  Its  authority  was  reduced  and  it  failed  often  to  be 
the  messenger  of  God  directing  all  of  the  ways  of  man.  Edu- 
cation was  driven  into  the  secluded  paths  of  culture  and 
counted  no  longer  among  the  prophets  of  God  to  call  men 
away  from  selfishness  into  the  gentler  duties  of  service  and 
love.  Class  was  isolated  from  class,  alien  to  each  other  in 
knowledge,  habit,  feeling  and  aspiration.  The  forms  of 
strength,  health,  wealth,  power,  culture,  education  centered 
on  the  few.  All  forms  of  weakness  were  visited  upon  the 
many.  Dependency  is  found  among  the  most  helpless  of 
these.  They  are  the  poor. 

The  salient  features  of  poverty  are  accounted  for  in  some 
manner  like  the  foregoing ;  by  human  inequality,  competition 
among  unequals,  lack  of  relief  in  the  severity  of  the  struggle 
by  state  action;  the  breakdown  of  the  culture  forces  that 
shape  and  direct  character  and  fix  the  valuations  which  con- 
trol the  lives  of  men.  Wherever  any  one  of  these  factors  was 
not  found,  the  spirit  and  outcome  of  the  harsh  process  were 
modified.  But  if  we  take  life  as  a  whole,  these  factors 
remained  in  the  ascendancy  and  produced  the  poverty  with 
which  we  are  so  familiar. 

We  may  not  forget  that  many  among  the  poor  were  made 
dependent  by  their  own  personal  qualities  against  which  no 
social  institution  could  have  saved  them.  Others  were  made 


14  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

dependent  through  the  iniquity  of  those  upon  whom  they 
depended.  Provision  must  be  made  for  every  type  of  excep- 
tion and  for  numbers  of  them.  But  the  social  elements  in 
the  background  of  poverty  are  so  evident  and  they  have  oper- 
ated with  such  compelling  force  in  the  lives  of  the  weak  that 
it  seems  impossible  to  deal  with  poverty  without  attributing 
to  these  elements  a  determining  role. 

We  may  not  overlook  the  apparent  exceptions;  the  rise 
from  poverty  and  obscurity  of  so  many  men  and  women  of 
eminence  and  power  whose  contributions  to  national  welfare 
have  been  striking  and  of  permanent  value.  Their  rise, 
however,  merely  indicates  that  the  untoward  circumstances 
of  poverty  do  not  necessarily  hinder  exceptional  qualities 
from  leading  one  to  power.  There  is,  of  course,  no  record 
of  those  who  as  victims  of  poverty  were  doomed  to  its  penal- 
ties but  in  other  circumstances  might  have  contributed  to 
human  progress  in  effective  measure. 

No  mistake  can  be  more  cruel  than  that  of  absolving  social 
conditions  and  arrangements  from  blame  for  poverty  and 
resting  in  the  assumption  that  the  poor  alone  are  responsible. 
As  we  explain  poverty  we  adapt  measures  in  dealing  with  it. 
The  assumption  that  it  is  not  the  outcome  of  social  processes 
and  is  primarily  the  result  of  individual  choices,  would  mis- 
lead all  social  effort  and  halt  all  steps  toward  social  progress. 
As  the  hope  of  progress  in  science  lies  always  in  the  "unclassi- 
fied remnant"  so  the  hope  of  social  progress  lies  in  finding 
proper  place  and  full  life  for  those  poor  now  found  as 
"unclassified  remnants"  in  the  world. 

It  is  vain  for  the  moment  to  speculate  on  the  place  of  com- 
petition in  social  evolution  or  to  consider  the  possibility  of 
its  elimination.  It  is  identified  with  the  organization  and 
progress  of  the  world.  Progressve  effort  to  modify  it  gives 
us  reason  for  believing  that  it  may  be  so  controlled  as  to  be 
freed  from  its  distressing  extremes.  The  awakened  con- 
science of  society  is  dealing  now  with  the  problem  of  ine- 
quality, the  curbing  of  strength  and  the  reenforcement  of 
weakness.  The  wider  activity  of  the  State  deals  with  social 


THE  BACKGROUND  OF  POVERTY     15 

conditions  and  institutions  which  are  determining  in  poverty ; 
and  culture  agencies  are  attracted  with  new  insight  to  their 
humane  tasks.  We  may  undertake  the  study  of  these  poli- 
cies and  of  the  conditions  which  occasion  them  without  fur- 
ther reference  to  exceptional  situations  or  exceptional 
persons. 

Inequality. 

The  remote  background  of  poverty  is  found  in  the  diver- 
sified gifts  and  capacities  of  men,  women  and  children. 
There  are  among  us  the  strong  and  the  weak,  the  noble  and 
the  ignoble,  the  dull  and  the  cunning,  the  provident  and  the 
thoughtless,  the  wise  and  the  foolish,  the  healthy  and 
the  diseased,  the  sinful  and  the  righteous,  the  educated  and 
the  uneducated,  the  normal  and  the  subnormal,  those  with 
and  those  without  social  reenforcement.  All  degrees  will  be 
found  in  each  form  of  strength  and  in  each  form  of  weakness. 
Many  forms  of  strength  will  be  found  in  the  same  lives. 
Many  forms  of  weakness  will  be  found  congregated  in  a 
single  life.  The  successful  merchant  may  have  economic 
strength  and  a  thorough  education  but  be  at  the  same  time 
morally  weak  and  in  ill  health.  An  unskilled  laborer  will 
have  neither  economic  nor  intellectual  strength  yet  he  may 
have  perfect  health  and  high  moral  character. 

To  a  very  great  extent  our  strength  and  our  weakness  are 
determined  independently  of  ourselves,  by  factors  over  which 
we  have  no  control  or  a  control  that  is  imperfect  and  delayed. 
If  the  foundations  of  health,  education  and  character  are  laid 
in  childhood,  our  future  strength  or  weakness  is  conditioned 
on  others,  not  on  ourselves.  Later  one  can  gain  more  or  less 
power  of  self-direction  and  of  correction  of  mistakes.  We 
may  not,  however,  underrate  the  extent  to  which  our  lives 
and  capacity  are  actually  conditioned  by  others  rather  than 
by  ourselves.  Now  strength  and  weakness  become  more  or 
less  important  in  our  development  as  they  are  in  relation  to 
or  independent  of  the  social  order  in  which  we  live.  If  life 
were  organized  on  a  spiritual  basis  we  should  call  the  virtuous 


16  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

strong  and  the  evil-doer,  weak.  Other  phases  of  strength  and 
weakness  would  remain  secondary  though  important.  If  the 
world  were  organized  on  a  purely  intellectual  basis,  the 
learned  would  be  strong  and  the  ignorant,  weak.  Other  forms 
of  strength  and  weakness  would  take  on  apparently  dimin- 
ished value.  If  society  were  organized  with  primary  refer- 
ence to  physical  health,  they  who  had  perfect  health  and  high 
vitality  would  be  the  strong  while  they  who  lacked  health 
would  constitute  the  weaker  class. 

As  the  world  is  actually  organized,  not  one  of  these  forms 
of  strength  is  really  determining.  Property  or  income  is  the 
typical '  qualification  for  success.  Property  is  primary 
strength.  Lack  of  it  is  primary  weakness.  Income  is  gained, 
controlled  and  enjoyed  without  particular  reference  to 
health,  virtue  or  education.  Each  of  these  has  an  economic 
value  distinct  from  its  own  intrinsic  nature  and  peculiar 
dignity.  Health  and  education  improve  one's  earning  capac- 
ity and  they  become  thereby  factors  in  one's  economic  suc- 
cess. But  no  degree  of  virtue  insures  an  economic  place  or 
income  to  any  one.  No  degree  of  lack  of  virtue  necessarily 
hinders  one  from  enjoying  abundant  income. 

Fundamentally,  as  the  world  is  organized  income  insures 
opportunity  and  prospect  for  health  and  education,  for  the 
ways  of  safety  and  the  strength  of  profitable  alliance  with 
others.  Lack  of  income  reduces  one  to  a  state  of  partial  or 
complete  dependence.  It  is  this  condition  that  gives  to  pov- 
erty its  encyclopedic  character.  It  tends  to  become  not 
merely  economic  weakness,  lack  of  income  because  of  defeat 
in  the  competitive  struggle,  but  all  forms  of  weakness,  in 
health,  in  education,  in  physical  safety,  in  culture,  taste, 
outlook  and  association.  Insight  into  the  complex  content 
of  poverty  and  understanding  of  the  larger  aims  that  inspire 
effort  to  conquer  it  may  be  gained  by  reviewing  the  salient 
features  of  human  inequality  from  the  standpoints  of  health, 
education,  character  and  social  reenforcement. 

Physical  strength  implies  that  one's  body  and  physical 
forces  are  normally  developed,  that  one  lives  in  surroundings 


THE  BACKGROUND  OF  POVERTY     17 

that  are  reasonably  free  from  danger  to  health  and  shows 
normal  power  of  resistance  against  the  approach  of  disease. 
When  one  enjoys  good  health,  wholesome  food  and  environ- 
ment and  one  is  not  subjected  to  exhausting  labor  or  to  con- 
ditions that  involve  excessive  risk  to  life,  health  and  limb, 
physical  health  is  protected  as  adequately  as  may  be  expected 
in  this  world.  While  good  health  remains  always  supremely 
desirable  no  degree  of  it  brings  assurance  of  success.  A  deli- 
cate man  with  an  alert  mind  may  gain  and  hold  ascendancy 
over  the  lives  of  thousands  by  force  of  social  institutions  and 
of  superior  education.  Although  good  health  insures  no 
economic  success,  disease  and  physical  handicaps  become  fac- 
tors of  primary  importance  in  poverty. 

Health  depends  on  physical  heredity,  intelligent  care  in 
childhood,  wholesome  food,  reasonable  self-knowledge,  cor- 
rect moral  sense  and  personal  habits,  Now  the  physical 
well-being  of  the  poor  has  been  so  undermined  by  the  expe- 
riences and  implications  of  poverty  that  its  health  aspects 
have  become  fundamental.  Poor  physical  heredity,  ignorant 
parents,  helpless  though  intelligent  parents,  malnutrition, 
lack  of  interest  in  health  itself,  environment  lacking  in  all 
forms  of  normal  stimulation,  industrial  accidents  and  occu- 
pational diseases,  low  resistance  against  every  approach  of 
disease,  wretched  housing  conditions,  failure  to  take  advan- 
tage of  even  free  and  skillful  medical  care,  constitute  a  series 
of  factors  that  have  worked  dreadful  harm  to  the  health  of  the 
poor  and  have  weakened  them  immeasurably  in  the  com- 
petitive struggle. 

The  relation  of  good  health  to  the  demands  of  unequal  com- 
petition is  fundamental.  The  effect  of  physical  weakness  in 
any  form  varies  with  the  economic  position  that  one  takes. 
Toward  the  lower  industrial  level,  health  is  of  supreme  eco- 
nomic importance.  As  we  rise  in  the  industrial  world  and 
mental  instead  of  physical  effort  is  called  for,  good  health 
becomes  less  important  in  competition.  In  the  case  of  the 
investor,  the  owner  of  capital,  system  replaces  person  to  such 
an  extent  that  after  death,  one's  estate  remains  active  in 


18  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHAKITY 

industry  because  its  operation  is  impersonal.  Among  the 
poor  everything  is  individual  and  personal.  Illness  for  a 
single  day  takes  away  from  the  worker  his  income  for  that 
day.  The  manager  may  lose  a  month  and  suffer  no  reduc- 
tion in  salary. 

Health  is  positively  necessary  to  the  weaker  competitor. 
Ill  health  in  the  worker  or  in  his  family  causes  mental  and 
physical  strain  and  expense  and  becomes  thereby  an  addi- 
tional drag  in  the  struggle  for  life. 

Inequality  appears  in  mental  as  well  as  physical  capacity 
among  competitors.  Intellectual  strength  depends  on  natu- 
ral capacity  of  mind  reenforced  by  wise  training,  average 
good  health  and  character.  There  are  many  degrees  of  natu- 
ral and  acquired  mental  power.  We  note  several  degrees  of 
feeble-mindedness  below  normal  and  a  number  of  grades  of 
ability  above  normal  up  to  the  exceptional  mind.  In  a  civi- 
lization in  which  education  to  some  degree  is  all  but  univer- 
sal, natural  talent  and  training  become  vitally  important  in 
the  competitive  struggle.  Inability  to  read  and  write,  simple 
as  these  accomplishments  now  appear,  shuts  out  men  and 
women  from  every  kind  of  occupation  except  the  most  infe- 
rior. Inability  to  read  signs,  addresses,  notices ;  inability  to 
make  a  memorandum  or  read  one,  has  become  a  tragedy  in 
modern  life.  Thus  the  illiterate,  the  dull,  the  feeble-minded 
are  hopelessly  outclassed  in  the  competitive  struggle.  Intel- 
lectual weakness  becomes  a  determining  factor  in  it.  An 
ignorant  mind  is  a  defeated  mind.  At  this  point  we  find 
health  conditions  affecting  education  in  a  far-reaching  way. 

The  children  of  the  poor  show  a  reaction  upon  mind  and 
education  from  health  and  physical  home  conditions.  If 
they  are  under-nourished  they  cannot  study  with  advantage. 
If  they  are  afflicted  in  any  way  or  defects  in  hearing  and 
sight  are  found,  these  become  serious  handicaps  in  their 
education.  If  children  are  wayward  and  home  discipline  is 
lax  or  the  atmosphere  of  the  home  is  vicious  and  depressing 
the  school  can  accomplish  but  little.  If  truancy  is  over- 
looked or  children  are  allowed  or  forced  to  earn  at  an  early 


THE  BACKGROUND  OF  POVERTY     19 

age,  schooling  promises  scarcely  any  redemption  from  the 
penalties  of  poverty. 

Even  when  such  heavy  obstacles  are  overcome  by  the  wis- 
dom of  parents  and  industry  of  children,  these  are  only  too 
often  the  victims  of  useless  or  aimless  instruction.  Misdi- 
rected education  is  now  counted  among  the  factors  that  affect 
the  quality  and  extent  of  poverty  among  those  who  can  read 
and  write.  Fundamental  in  the  life  of  each  of  us  as  is  edu- 
cation, we  are  in  childhood  entirely  at  the  mercy  of  others 
to  whom  our  training  is  entrusted.  The  child  has,  therefore, 
but  little  to  do  in  determining  its  education.  So  long  as 
feeble  minded  compete  with  normal,  illiterate  with  literate, 
trained  with  untrained,  there  can  be  but  one  outcome.  The 
strong  will  win  and  the  weak  will  lose. 

Degrees  of  moral  strength,  of  quality  in  character  are  fac- 
tors in  our  strength  in  the  competitive  struggle.  The  under- 
standing of  moral  and  spiritual  ideals,  capacity  for  self- 
discipline  and  self-control,  unfaltering  trust  in  virtue  and  an 
abiding  sense  of  security  gained  through  obedience  to  the 
laws  of  God  and  of  society  are  essential  not  only  to  spiritual 
but  also  to  social  life.  Moral  qualities  are  a  form  of  intelli- 
gence since  they  represent  actual  insight  into  true  relations 
and  values  in  life  and  indicate  conformity  of  behavior  to 
such  truth.  Hence  we  look  upon  education  as  the  process  of 
developing  the  whole  man  in  his  physical,  mental,  moral  and 
spiritual  nature.  Education  is  a  united  process  because  life 
is  a  united  process.  Differences  in  moral  strength  become 
factors  in  the  competitive  struggle  because  they  are  funda- 
mental aspects  of  the  strength  or  weakness  that  men  bring  to 
the  struggle  for  a  living.  The  provident  defeat  the  improvi- 
dent. They  who  remain  true  to  personal  ideals  and  moral 
standards  win  against  the  wayward  and  sinful.  The  sober 
replace  the  intemperate. 

The  moral  inequalities  that  affect  the  competitive  struggle 
react  beyond  the  competitors  themselves.  Sober,  industrious 
and  provident  men  bring  happiness,  refinement  and  hope  to 
their  wives  and  children,  meet  all  of  the  obligations  of  life 


20 

with  manly  foresight.  But  the  wayward,  careless  and  sinful 
defeat  not  only  themselves  but  their  families  as  well,  destroy 
home  life,  force  children  and  mothers  into  industrial  occu- 
pations at  the  cost  of  every  high  ideal.  Sin  then  and  lack 
of  moral  sense  and  fiber  bring  defeat  in  the  competitive 
struggle  and  add  many  tragedies  in  innocent  lives  among  the 
poor.  Thus  poverty  breeds  poverty.  Economic  failure  leads 
to  moral  and  social  defeat  and  differences  in  moral  qualities 
among  competitors  become  factors  in  causing  dependency. 

No  one  lives  unto  himself  alone.  Our  social  relations 
are  fundamental  and  enduring.  These  relations  greatly 
strengthen  or  greatly  weaken  us  as  the  case  may  be.  Social 
reenforcement  is  a  primary  factor  in  our  strength  for  the 
competitive  struggle.  Lack  of  it  causes  weakness  against 
which  one  all  but  struggles  in  vain. 

Men  are  socially  reenforced  by  family  ties,  by  friendship, 
good  reputation,  credit  and  the  consciousness  that  others 
believe  in  them  and  trust  them.  This  consciousness  is  a 
determining  factor  in  leading  us  to  patient  industry  and 
high  endeavor.  The  hope  of  not  disappointing  those  in  whose 
good  opinion  we  place  our  aims  and  our  honor  is  a  founda- 
tion stone  in  all  sturdy  character.  They  who  are  socially 
reenforced  in  these  ways  are  strong  indeed.  Those  who  are 
not  so  strengthened  are  weak  indeed.  A  feeble-minded  child 
born  into  a  family  that  has  wealth  and  position  is  saved  from 
every  social  consequence  of  its  affliction.  Such  a  child  born 
to  a  poor  family  is  exposed  to  every  bitter  consequence  of  its. 
affliction.  Wagner  calls  attention  to  this  general  truth  in  his 
treatise  on  Economics.  He  applies  the  term  "conjunctur" 
to  the  sum  total  of  conditions,  institutions,  arrangements  and 
relations  by  which  the  individual  is  made  strong  and  effective 
in  industrial  life.  May  we  not  find  among  the  poor  a  "con- 
junctur" of  conditions,  relations  and  factors  that  occasion 
weakness,  not  strength,  and  subject  the  poor  to  the  heavy 
penalties  of  their  failure  in  the  competitive  struggle?  No 
history  of  poverty  can  ever  reveal  to  us  the  extent  to  which 
social  reenforcement  has  lifted  and  saved  thousands  who 


THE  BACKGROUND  OF  POVERTY     21 

otherwise  had  gone  down  to  complete  dependency.  Nor  can 
any  such  history  ever  count  those  who  did  perish  in  the 
struggle  when  normal  social  reenforcement  might  have  saved 
them  to  happiness  and  peace. 

All  forms  of  strength  and  of  weakness  tend  in  the  com- 
petitive struggle  to  become  gregarious.  Health,  education, 
character,  culture,  social  reenforcement  are  associated  widely 
among  the  victors  in  that  struggle;  that  is  among  those  who 
enjoy  adequate  income.  Ill  health,  low  resistance  against 
disease,  exposure  to  unfavorable  environment,  ignorance, 
misdirected  education,  lack  of  opportunity  and  of  reenforce- 
ment assemble  in  the  lives  of  the  weaker  competitors.  Thus 
it  is  that  the  curse  of  the  poor  is  their  poverty.  The  blessing 
of  the  strong  is  their  strength.  As  life  is  organized,  all  oppor- 
tunity is  assured  to  those  who  have  economic  strength,  who 
possess  qualities  that  are  of  value  in  the  competitive  strug- 
gle. Lack  of  economic  strength  presses  in  the  direction  of 
dependency.  When  that  line  is  reached  by  the  weakest  these 
are  hurled  into  the  abyss  to  perish  or  to  be  salvaged  from  the 
wreck  of  life  by  the  spirit  and  efforts  of  charity.  Poverty 
is  the  outcome  of  the  competitive  struggle  among  unequals. 
It  includes  the  complete  and  partial  failures  who  lacked  the 
qualities  and  relations  that  condition  survival. 

Competition. 

There  are  many  degrees  of  victory  and  of  defeat  in  the 
competitive  economic  struggle.  They  who  gain  income  suffi- 
cient to  all  of  the  normal  demands  of  life  and  development, 
and  enjoy  some  degree  of  independence  and  security  are 
among  the  victors.  This  victory  carries  some  beyond  this 
modest  level  to  varying  heights  of  economic  and  social  power 
where  ownership  of  millions  is  found  and  imperial  sway  over 
human  lives  is  insured  through  industrial  organization. 
There  are  likewise  many  degrees  of  failure.  Some  such  are 
they  who  at  times  are  unable  to  gain  income  sufficient  to  their 
normal  or  extraordinary  needs;  they  who  are  permanently 


22 

unable  to  provide  for  themselves  and  those  dependent  on 
them;  they  who  can  procure  income  needed  for  existence  at 
the  sacrifice  of  home,  health  and  education;  they  who  are 
dull,  aimless,  wayward  and  irresponsible  and  are  apathetic 
in  presence  of  every  fate  or  opportunity. 

Certain  processes  occur  among  the  strong  which  have  a 
vital  bearing  on  poverty.  Competition  has  forced  upon  the 
stronger  types  a  degree  of  concentration  in  the  economic 
struggle  which  has  led  to  a  tone  of  practical  materialism. 
Risk  which  is  always  associated  with  industrial  activity  has 
added  to  this  development.  Passion  for  power  which  is  in 
wealth,  lack  of  limit  to  accumulation,  desire  for  acquisition 
without  particular  aim  have  appeared  among  the  strong  and 
led  them  into  a  false  philosophy  of  life  and  property.  Isola- 
tion from  the  weak,  social  antagonisms  particularly  between- 
labor  and  capital  and  the  tyranny  of  system  have  permitted 
these  elements  in  the  outlook  of  triumphant  competition  to 
dominate  their  feelings  and  thought  in  a  way  that  bears  very 
directly  on  the  complications  of  poverty.  Not  only  the  states 
of  mind  that  result  from  struggle,  victory,  accumulation  and 
social  separation  among  the  strong  but  also  the  facts  in  the 
organization  of  property  aggravate  the  conditions  among  the 
weak  economic  classes. 

Property  has  taken  on  an  exaggerated  social  valuation. 
Typical  industrial  property  which  is  in  closest  relation  to 
poverty  is  found  in  large  units  of  amalgamated  capital. 
Ownership  is  parceled  to  hundreds  and  even  thousands  of 
persons  who  hold  shares.  Ownership  is  separated  from  man- 
agement. Owners  do  not  manage  and  managers  do  not  own. 
Representative  government  through  directors  occurs  nearly 
everywhere.  Majority  control  is  basic.  Financial  and  indus- 
trial relations  and  kindred  philosophies  of  property  and  life 
unite  industrial  and  financial  units  in  common  sympathies 
that  defend  and  declare  the  rights  of  property  and  its  feudal 
instincts  against  serious  claims  that  humanity  urges  at  its 
cost.  The  conscience  of  property  is  weakened  when  not  lost. 
Its  social  imagination  is  misdirected  and  its  benevolence 


THE  BACKGROUND  OF  POVERTY     23 

toward  the  defeated  is  careful  lest  any  power  be  surrendered. 
The  economic  process  is  isolated  in  its  native  crudity.  The 
profit  motive  and  the  instinct  that  resists  every  surrender  of 
power  are  accorded  sway.  The  sympathies  of  those  in  control 
are  insulated  against  the  currents  of  humane  sympathy  and 
practical  Christian  idealism.  Noble  exceptions  to  this 
process  occur  but  the  natural  tendency,  the  accompanying 
mental  and  social  traits,  the  social  antagonisms  and  the 
degrees  in  outcome  that  scale  down  to  abject  dependence  and 
annihilated  hopes  are  typical  in  character  and  expression. 
They  are  the  background  out  of  which  modern  poverty  has 
resulted. 

Laborers  who  do  not  earn  a  living  wage ;  mothers  and  little 
children  who  are  drawn  away  from  the  secluded  peace  of  a 
worthy  home  and  thrown  into  the  industrial  conflict,  unfitted 
in  body,  mind  and  soul  for  its  exacting  demands;  families 
that  are  herded  in  shelters  that  cannot  by  any  courtesy  be 
called  homes;  victims  of  industrial  accident,  occupational 
disease,  and  death,  are  just  where  they  are  and  as  they  are  to 
a  large  extent,  because  of  the  power  of  the  profit  motive  in 
industry  and  the  impersonal  isolation  that  holds  strong  and 
weak  apart  in  association,  sympathy,  understanding  and 
thought.  Geologists  associate  the  high  mountains  and  the 
abysmal  depths  of  the  sea  as  phases  of  one  vast  process.  We 
may  similarly  conceive  the  high  peaks  of  social  power  and 
the  abysmal  and  chilling  depths  of  poverty  as  associated 
phases  of  a  process  which  holds  civilization  in  its  all  but 
unyielding  grasp.  We  must  account  for  the  facts  that  declare 
poverty,  for  the  philosophy  that  has  tolerated  it,  for  the  spir- 
itual blindness  that  has  condoned  it,  for  the  deluded  con- 
science that  has  thought  to  excuse  or  misinterpret  it,  for  the 
discriminating  deafness  that  has  closed  the  ears  of  the  strong 
to  its  whispered  agonies.  There  are  not  enough  of  noble 
exceptions,  many  though  they  be,  to  hide  the  headlong  ten- 
dency of  the  unequal  competitive  struggle  toward  such  out- 
come in  distribution  of  property  and  enjoyment  of  power  as 


24  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

declares  the  ascendency  of  the  philosophy  of  property  over 
the  philosophy  of  humanity. 

It  would  be  false  to  facts  and  unjust  to  the  last  degree  to 
insinuate  that  this  process  has  been  welcomed  by  the  victors 
in  the  competitive  struggle.  It  is  system  not  persons  that 
shaped  the  direction  of  the  movement.  Humane  minded  men 
have  rebelled  with  noble  courage  against  it.  But  the  sullen 
continental  pressure  of  the  system  has  prevailed  with  a  con- 
stancy that  has  brought  out  every  ugly  implication  of  its 
nature.  It  has  made  triumph  easy  for  the  ignoble  and  diffi- 
cult for  the  noble.  This  alone  invites  seriou*s  attention  to 
the  attitude  that  finds  willing  toleration  of  it  possible  at  all. 

Individualism. 

The  competitive  struggle  in  which  unequals  have  engaged 
reached  its  outcome  under  the  individualistic  state  whose 
philosophy  and  traditional  policies  reduced  intervention  to  a 
minimum.  The  political  element  in  the  background  of  pov- 
erty takes,  therefore,  a  place  of  first  importance. 

The  State  is  the  organized  sovereign  will  of  society.  Its 
fundamental  aim  is  to  enable  men,  women  and  children  to 
live  normal  lives,  to  enjoy  normal  opportunity  for  develop- 
ment, to  be  happy,  and  secure  against  unreasonable  fear,  to 
foster  mutually  helpful  relations,  to  declare  and  perpetuate 
ideals  in  which  the  sanctities  of  life  are  recognized,  to  dis- 
cover and  obey  the  will  of  God  which  is  the  supreme  law  of 
life.  The  accomplishment  of  these  ends  depends  in  fact  to 
a  large  degree  on  the  government  which  is  merely  the  State 
in  action.  But  in  addition,  social  and  spiritual  agencies, 
public  opinion,  education,  a  strong  community  sense  are 
essential.  Home,  church,  school,  social  classes,  whatever 
their  basis  have  measurable  functions  which  are  performed 
with  more  elastic  freedom  than  are  those  of  the  State.  Since 
we  are  fundamentally  affected  by  physical  and  social  environ- 
ment, social  conditions  no  less  than  social  institutions  come 
within  the  range  of  the  solicitude  of  the  State.  The  indi- 


THE  BACKGROUND  OF  POVERTY     25 

vidual  must  be  left  as  free  as  possible  but  at  the  point  where 
he  becomes  helpless  in  face  of  conditions  and  processes,  the 
State  must  find  its  work.  Now  conditions  arose  out  of  the 
unhindered  competitive  struggle  which  aggravated  with 
dreadful  effect  the  misery  of  the  weak.  The  more  robust 
classes  of  laborers  developed  a  technique  of  protection 
through  unions.  But  the  unskilled  have  always  lacked  power 
and  representation.  The  weakest  went  down  to  defeat  unhin- 
dered. The  various  elements  that  enter  the  problem  at  this 
point  are  evident. 

Democracy  is  primarily  social,  moral  and  spiritual  and 
secondarily  political.  It  is  a  philosophy  of  life  as  well  as 
theory  of  government.  It  is  inspired  by  a  noble  concept  of 
the  individual,  of  the  dignity  of  his  person,  the  sanctity  of 
his  rights,  the  claim  of  his  powers  to  normal  development. 
Democratic  institutions  taken  in  conjunction  with  sturdy 
home  life,  strong  community  sense,  reasonable  self-control, 
true  valuations,  healthy  respect  for  religion  and  obedience  to 
its  spiritual  teaching,  and  general  education  can  scarcely  fail 
of  their  high  inspiring  promise  to  humanity.  But  the  indi- 
vidualistic state  that  has  been  Democracy  to  us  was  estab- 
lished when  its  social  and  religious  auxiliaries  were  weakened 
and  the  normal  correctives  of  selfishness  could  not  assert 
themselves.  It  shaped  itself  to  a  future  which  it  did  not  and 
could  not  foresee.  It  hampered  its  freedom  by  carefully 
measured  restraints  in  constitutions.  The  strong  economic 
class  gained  adequate  representation  in  its  every  department 
while  the  weak  industrial  class  fought  for  a  recognition  and 
effective  representation  that  were  long  delayed. 

Society  became  highly  organized.  The  prevalence  of  the 
strong  delayed  action  by  the  State  in  favor  of  the  weak. 
When  that  obstacle  was  overcome  it  was  found  that  constitu- 
tional limitations  on  State  powers  hindered  it  from  most 
elementary  defense  of  social  justice  toward  the  weak.  Ordi- 
narily the  State  cannot  act  except  by  warrant  of  preestab- 
lished  law.  It  protects  only  those  human  rights  which  it  has 
in  advance  defined.  After  it  has  attempted  new  legislation  in 


26  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

defense  of  the  weak  it  witnesses  challenge  to  the  constitu- 
tionality of  its  action.  Even  when  this  trial  is  successfully 
met  it  must  depend  on  whimsical  legislatures  for  appropria- 
tions and  the  good  faith  of  those  to  whom  administration  is 
entrusted. 

But  further  obstacles  of  a  different  nature  stood  in  the 
way  of  benevolent  assistance  to  the  weak.  The  State  assumes 
that  citizens  will  take  the  initiative  in  defending  their  civil 
rights  under  the  law.  To  that  end  courts  serve  us.  The 
State  takes  the  initiative  in  criminal  but  not  in  civil  cases. 
Now  the  weak  have  not  a  keen  sense  of  their  rights.  They  are 
largely  ignorant  of  them.  Lacking  means  to  meet  expenses 
they  cannot  carry  an  even  contest  with  the  strong.  Uncer- 
tainty of  outcome,  delay,  intimidation  reduced  very  greatly 
the  actual  protection  that  the  weak  might  have  enjoyed  under 
actual  legislation. 

The  negative  and  the  positive  elements  in  the  political 
background  of  poverty  have  weighed  heavily  on  the  weaker 
classes  and  most  heavily  on  the  weakest  among  them.  The 
competitive  philosophy  led  to  inequalities  which  thwarted 
the  benevolent  ends  of  State  action  and  rendered  nugatory, 
the  promises  of  free  institutions.  Constitutional  limitations 
on  State  action  prevented  interference  until  amendments  con- 
ferred the  needed  powers.  Powers  that  might  have  been 
exercised  in  the  interest  of  the  weak  were  not  employed 
because  the  strong  prevented  their  action.  When  the  pres- 
sure of  public  opinion  forced  remedial  measures  through, 
questions  of  constitutionality,  of  interpretation  and  applica- 
tion occasioned  annoying  delays.  When  these  obstacles  were 
overcome,  indifferent,  even  corrupt,  administration  nullified 
legislation  frequently.  When  all  of  these  difficulties  were 
overcome,  ignorance,  indifference  and  miscarriage  of  justice 
completed  the  litany  of  disasters  that  touched  the  poor. 
Failure  of  the  strong  classes  to  visualize  these  pitiable  con- 
ditions left  the  weak  helpless  and  doomed  them  to  the  agony 
of  thwarted  life.  The  admirable  study  of  "Justice  and  the 
Poor"  by  Reginald  Heber  Smith,  published  in  1919  by  the 


THE  BACKGROUND  OF  POVERTY     27 

Carnegie  Foundation,  calls  attention  with  scholarly  thorough- 
ness and  temperateness  to  these  conditions.    We  read : 1 

1.  "We  have  been  slow  to  appreciate  the  changes  of  conditions 
•which  to  so  great  an  extent  have  put  justice  beyond  the  reach 
of  the  poor." 

2.  "The  administration  of  American  justice  is  not  impartial, 
the  rich  and  the  poor  do  not  stand  on  an  equality  before  the  law, 
the  traditional  method  of  providing  justice  has  operated  to  close 
the  doors  of  the  courts  to  the  poor,  and  has  caused  a  gross  denial 
of  justice  in  all  parts  of  the  country  to  millions  of  persons." 

3.  "The  system  not  only  robs  the  poor  of  their  only  protection 
but  it  places  in  the  hands  of  their  oppressors  the  most  powerful 
and  ruthless  weapon  ever  invented." 

4.  "The    effects    of   this    denial    of    justice    are    far-reaching. 
Nothing  rankles  more  in  the  human  heart  than  the  feeling  of 
injustice.    It  produces  a  sense  of  helplessness,  then  bitterness. 
It  is  brooded  over.    It  leads  directly  to  contempt  for  law,  dis- 
loyalty to  the  government  and  plants  the  seeds  of  anarchy.    The 
conviction  grows  that  law  is  not  justice  and  challenges  the  belief 
that  justice  is  best  secured  when  administered  according  to  the 
law.     The  poor  come  to  think  of  American  justice  as  containing 
only  laws  that  punish  and  never  laws  that  help.    They  are  against 
the  law  because  they  consider  the  law  against  them." 

5.  "All  that  can  be  done  within  the  scope  of  this  work  is  to 
examine  these  cardinal  defects  which  have  brought  about  a  denial 
of  justice  to  the  poor.    Many  other  factors,  such  as  the  frailties  in 
human  nature,  maladjustments   in  our  social  order,   ignorance, 
unfairness  in  our  economic  system,  contribute  to  this  deplorable 
result. 

"One  further  cause  is  so  closely  linked  to  the  administration 
of  justice  that  it  must  be  stated,  although  it  cannot  be  discussed 
in  detail.  There  are  to-day  many  members  of  the  Bar  so  ill- 
trained  in  law  and  so  poorly  equipped  to  practice  law  that  the 
cases  entrusted  to  them  are  mishandled  and  ruined  and  the  rights 
of  their  clients  lost.  Unquestionably  too  large  a  proportion  of 
the  existing  denial  of  justice  is  traceable  to  this  source." 

The  poor  might  well  have  asked  James  Kussell  Lowell  to 
retain  in  his  poem  on  Agassiz,  the  phrase  describing  America, 
which  his  friends  prevailed  on  him  to  expunge,  "The  Land 
of  Broken  Promise." 

introduction  by  Elihu  Root,  p.  x.  Pp.  8,  9,  10.  Footnote,  p.  16, 
respectively. 


28  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

Cultwral  Ideals. 

The  cultural  elements  in  the  background  of  poverty  are 
found  in  factors  not  controlled  by  law.  It  is  well  known 
that  political  institutions  are  effective  by  virtue  of  factors 
which  they  themselves  do  not  control.  The  State  can  give 
to  its  citizens  the  ballot  but  religion  and  personal  will  must 
shape  the  conscience  that  guides  the  exercise  of  that  power. 
Laws  do  not  operate  effectively  against  an  adverse  public 
opinion  but  laws  do  not  create  nor,  on  the  whole,  control 
public  opinion.  Democracy  is  an  experience  in  character, 
the  outcome  of  high  moral  qualities,  but  these  the  State  does 
not  create.  It  rather  assumes  such  qualities  as  conditions 
to  its  effective  action.  Ideal  democracy  implies  a  maximum 
of  order  with  a  minimum  of  coercion.  It  depends  on  pro- 
found reverence  for  human  rights  and  human  personality, 
prompt  courage  in  yielding  to  the  discipline  of  personal 
ideals,  unreflecting  promptness  in  recognizing  and  defending 
the  claims  of  public  welfare  on  the  active  solicitude  of  citi- 
zens. Home,  church,  school,  public  opinion,  individual  con- 
science, theories  of  life  and  its  relations,  disciplined  valua- 
tions are  more  powerful  factors  in  a  democracy  than  courts, 
jails  and  fines.  The  failure  of  these  forces  to  play  their 
respective  parts  in  the  direction  of  life  became  determining 
in  the  development  of  modern  poverty.  This  truth  was 
brought  out  with  telling  effect  by  Edmund  Burke  in  his 
study  of  the  French  Revolution. 

These  factors  did  not  succeed  in  disciplining  the  strong. 
Men  of  power  did  not  gain  from  them  the  cultured  outlook 
that  should  have  redeemed  them  from  the  tyranny  of  their 
strength  and  the  abuse  of  their  powers.  They  developed  a 
keen  sense  of  rights  and  a  blunted  or  obscured  sense  of 
larger  duty  toward  society.  Selfishness  became  dominant. 
Partial  views  of  life  and  human  society  prevailed.  Love  of 
dividends  and  hatred  of  taxes  become  symbolical  of  the  drift 
of  economic  life.  Love  of  sociological  dividends  which  are 
our  rights  and  disregard  of  sociological  taxes  which  are  our 


THE  BACKGROUND  OF  POVERTY     29 

duties  became  the  rule  in  moral  and  social  relations.  Strong 
and  weak  drifted  apart.  Each  developed  its  own  code,  its 
own  outlook,  its  own  philosophy  of  life.  The  strong  were 
beguiled  into  error  as  the  weak  were  driven  toward  or  into 
misery.  The  cultural  forces  did  not  fit  them  for  democracy. 
The  State  did  not  hinder  the  fury  of  selfishness.  TJnequals 
competed.  Inequality  beyond  the  law  neutralized  equality 
before  the  law.  Poverty  is  one  of  the  consequences  of  that 
process. 

The  failure  of  the  cultural  agencies  to  ennoble  and  guide 
the  strong  is  shown  in  the  loss  of  a  true  cultural  outlook 
among  these.  Life  is  a  whole.  Part  must  be  seen  in  relation 
to  part.  The  law  of  life  is  the  law  of  the  whole  of  life. 
Industry  is  a  phase  of  life,  not  all  life.  Profit  is  one  incen- 
tive, not  the  sum  of  all  incentives  to  action.  Property  is 
good  but  not  the  chief  good  nor  all  good.  Civil  law  is  one 
source  of  discipline  but  not  all  discipline.  Self-protection 
is  a  duty  but  not  all  duty.  Duty  toward  others  is  related  to 
one's  power  to  serve  others.  Life  was  split  into  fractions. 
Each  tended  to  become  a  stubborn  unrelated  element.  Insti- 
tutions, conditions,  social  philosophy,  social  relations  and  ac- 
tion followed  that  development  to  such  an  extent  that  they 
became  primary  factors  in  the  poverty  of  the  modern  world. 

The  breakdown  of  the  cultural  forces  among  the  poor 
became  a  significant  element  of  poverty.  Home,  school, 
church,  public  opinion,  ambition  meet  obstacles  at  every 
point  among  the  poor  and  aggravate  to  a  pitiable  degree  the 
misery  of  their  lot. 

A  normal  home  requires  a  comfortable  house,  adequate 
room  space  to  protect  privacy  and  morality,  decent  surround- 
ings, intelligent  parents,  protected  childhood,  sufficient  whole- 
some food,  freedom  from  unreasonable  fear  and  the  experi- 
ence of  peace,  affection  and  hope.  A  home  involves  a  moral 
unity  among  parents  and  children  that  is  the  basis  of  con- 
tinuity of  life,  a  source  of  motive  and  aspiration  and  effec- 
tive discipline  that  prepares  one  for  the  wider  relations  of 
life.  Through  this  moral  unity  of  life  experience  is  assured 


30  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

in  thoughtf ulness,  renunciation,  obedience,  respect  for  duty 
and  the  memory  of  a  thousand  joys  that  are  dear  to  affection, 
and  are  enduring  springs  of  noble  impulse  later.  The  ideal 
home  constitutes  a  spiritual  unity  as  well  in  which  faith  in 
God  and  belief  in  the  compensations  of  His  love  deepen  the 
natural  unity  of  life  and  light  it  with  the  touch  of  eternity. 
The  divine  foundation  of  family  laid  by  the  hand  of  Jesus 
Christ  Himself  imparts  to  it  a  sanctity  that  gives  it  enduring 
spiritual  quality.  When  the  home  lacks  this  it  ceases  to  be 
a  home. 

"This  is  the  true  nature  of  home — it  is  the  place  of  peace ; 
the  shelter  not  only  from  all  injury,  but  from  all  terror,  doubt 
and  division.  In  so  far  as  it  is  not  this,  it  is  not  home:  so 
far  as  the  anxieties  of  the  outer  life  penetrate  into  it,  and  the 
inconsistently-minded,  unknown,  unloved  or  hostile  society  of 
the  outer  world  is  allowed  by  either  husband  or  wife  to  cross 
the  threshold,  it  ceases  to  be  home ;  it  is  then  only  a  part  of 
that  outer  world  which  you  have  roofed  over  and  lighted  fire 
in.  But  so  far  as  it  is  a  sacred  place,  a  vestal  temple,  a 
temple  of  the  hearth  watched  over  by  household  gods  before 
whose  faces  none  may  come  but  those  whom  they  can  receive 
with  love, — so  far  as  it  is  this,  and  roof  and  fire  are  types 
only  of  a  nobler  shade  and  light, — shade  as  of  a  rock  in  a 
weary  land,  and  light  as  of  the  Pharos  in  the  stormy  sea ; — 
so  far  it  vindicates  the  name  and  fulfills  the  praise  of  home." 
(Ruskin,  "Sesame  and  Lilies.") 

Now  the  home  is  intended  to  be  a  channel  of  culture.  It 
promotes  intellectual,  spiritual  and  social  life.  It  takes  on 
some  functions  of  church  and  school.  It  is  a  channel  for 
the  tradition  of  civilization  to  the  oncoming  generations, 
the  familiar  guide  of  the  child  into  the  wider  complexities 
of  life.  It  is  the  child's  first  natural  and  divine  protection 
against  ignorance  and  evil.  Now  this  ideal  has  been  made 
impossible  for  countless  numbers.  The  breakdown  of  the 
home  and  of  home  life  among  the  poor  is  a  supreme  tragedy. 
The  home  in  its  physical  aspects  has  been  made  impossible 
by  housing  conditions,  ignorance  of  home  making,  lack  of 


THE  BACKGROUND  OF  POVERTY     31 

income,  helplessness,  the  rapacity  of  landlords,  the  indiffer- 
ence of  government  and  the  inadequacy  of  the  resources  of 
charity.  The  home  has  broken  down  for  countless  numbers 
as  an  educational  factor  on  account  of  the  ignorance  of 
parents,  their  apathy  or  enforced  selfishness.  The  enduring 
effects  of  this  condition  have  touched  every  aspect  of  life  and 
imparted  to  much  of  poverty  a  stubbornness  that  defeats 
every  resource  of  wisdom.  Among  the  poor  the  home  has 
very  frequently  failed  as  a  moral  influence  because  the  fam- 
ily lacked  the  unity,  intelligence  and  security  upon  which 
its  moral  power  depends.  Furthermore,  environmental 
influences  of  a  degrading  kind  have  acted  upon  children  with 
such  effect  as  to  have  led  us  to  expect  a  high  rate  of  juve- 
nile delinquency  among  the  children  of  the  poor.  It  is  but 
natural  then  that  the  home  should  have  failed  frequently  in 
its  spiritual  role.  Since  it  was  equal  to  none  of  the  tasks  of 
time  it  fell  short  often  of  meeting  those  of  eternity. 

We  are  thus  compelled  to  recognize  the  breakdown  of  the 
home,  the  disintegration  of  the  family  as  a  fundamental  ele- 
ment in  poverty.  Throughout  the  entire  range  of  relief  work 
the  rehabilitation  of  the  family  is  looked  upon  as  the  imme- 
diate imperative  aim.  It  would  be  an  injustice  that  no  one 
could  pardon  were  one  to  speak  of  the  poor  indiscriminately 
in  discussing  the  breakdown  of  the  home  among  them.  There 
is  no  social  worker  who  does  not  with  real  joy  pay  tribute 
to  the  marvelous  instances  of  refinement,  ambition,  silent 
heroism,  noble  life,  great  endeavor  and  splendid  outcome 
found  among  the  homes  of  the  poor.  Dickens  gives  us  a 
lesson  that  is  forever  powerful  in  the  story  of  "Oliver  Twist." 
It  requires  no  particular  ingenuity  to  trace  much  of  the 
responsibility  for  every  detail  in  the  breakdown  of  home 
life  among  the  poor  in  its  physical,  mental,  moral  and  spirit- 
ual aspects  to  the  competitive  struggle  as  we  have  known  it. 

The  school  is  a  channel  of  culture  that  takes  on  impor- 
tance increasingly  with  the  progress  of  the  world.  Its  mis- 
sion is  to  impart  to  the  young  the  best  that  the  past  has  given, 
to  interpret  present  life  and  future  life,  to  prepare  the  chil- 


32  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

dren  of  the  nation  for  their  place  in  the  world,  to  develop 
their  latent  powers  and  increase  their  capacity  for  noble 
living.  Profitable  attendance  at  school  requires  that  the 
children  have  a  normal  home  life,  that  they  be  well  nourished* 
and  clothed,  that  their  education  be  adapted  to  their  capacity 
and  prospects  and  that  they  be  fitted  for  an  independent  and 
orderly  place  in  life.  Both  home  and  school  are  fundamen- 
tal in  socializing  the  child,  in  giving  it  a  true  outlook  on  life, 
in  developing  the  powers  and  motives  of  self-control,  respect 
for  the  common  welfare  and  reverence  for  human  rights. 

In  proportion  as  poverty  hurts  the  positive  well-being  of 
children  or  compels  them  to  go  to  work  at  an  early  age,  it 
either  removes  them  from  school  or  unfits  them  for  the  disci- 
pline and  concentration  of  the  class  room.  Children  who 
need  medical  attention  or  are  under-nourished  or  neglected  at 
home  can  profit  but  little  in  a  school.  If  the  indifference  of 
parents,  teachers  and  truant  officers  permits  them  to  absent 
themselves  from  school  frequently  or  altogether,  there  is  little 
promise  that  they  will  escape  the  penalties  of  ignorance. 
The  failure  of  the  poor  to  share  adequately  in  the  opportuni- 
ties for  education  now  universally  offered  exposes  them  to 
enduring  consequences  which  become  primary  factors  in  their 
misery. 

Religion  is  the  supreme  factor  in  culture.  It  aims  to  place 
the  creature  in  true  relation  to  the  Creator ;  to  set  forth  and 
sanction  the  social  relations  and  values  which  indicate  the 
will  of  God  in  respect  of  us.  It  sets  before  the  world  the 
true  ideals  of  life.  It  expounds  and  sanctions  the  moral  law. 
It  furnishes  the  discipline  that  would  curb  strength  and  the 
sympathy  that  would  reenforce  weakness  in  a  way  to  balance 
all  human  relations  in  the  sight  of  God. 

The  Church  is  the  organized  expression  of  religious  truth 
and  moral  law  as  revealed  to  us  through  Jesus  Christ  and 
adapted  to  the  circumstances  and  limitations  of  life.  Receiv- 
ing her  mission  from  Jesus  Christ,  she  is  His  continuing 
personality,  setting  before  the  world  the  law  of  eternity  as 
the  basis  of  relations  in  it.  She  sets  forth  the  true  values 


THE  BACKGROUND  OF  POVEKTY     33 

that  would  discipline  every  desire  of  the  human  heart,  the 
renunciations  that  make  for  spiritual  peace  and  the  impulses 
that  lead  to  service  in  the  name  of  Christ.  She  knows  no 
compulsions  but  those  of  love.  She  depends  upon  no  law 
but  that  of  free  choice  of  the  individual  who  elects  to  accept 
the  law  of  Jesus  Christ  and  live  according  to  it  or  who  repu- 
diates that  law  and  lives  as  he  will.  Christ  in  His  own  time 
found  those  who  accepted  and  those  who  rejected  His  mes- 
sage. We  are  not  to  wonder  if  we  find  their  successors  to- 
day. Now  the  work  of  the  Church  is  always  difficult  because 
evil  is  subtle  and  error  is  resourceful.  Many  of  the  strong, 
defiant  in  their  strength,  choose  either  not  to  accept  the  law 
of  Christ  or  to  accept  it  as  they  choose  to  interpret  it.  On  the 
other  hand  the  weaker  classes,  objects  of  special  love  and  ten- 
der service  on  the  part  of  Christ  so  suffer  from  poverty  and 
its  implications  that  the  message  of  the  Gospel  does  not  reach 
them,  or  if  it  reaches  them,  it  remains  very  often  inoperative. 
From  the  spiritual  standpoint,  poverty  is  a  problem  that 
involves  erroneous  views  of  life,  of  wealth  and  of  social  rela- 
tions. It  is  also  a  problem  of  evil  indicating  frequent  posi- 
tive or  negative  sin  among  the  strong  and  involving  condi- 
tions that  promote  evil  among  the  poor. 

This  analysis  completes  the  sketch  of  the  background  of 
poverty  as  it  is  held  in  mind.  Human  inequality,  competi- 
tion among  unequals,  the  emerging  of  property  as  an  interest 
in  conflict  with  human  rights,  and  the  individualistic  state 
made  inevitable  the  development  of  the  strong  and  the  weak 
classes.  They  who  proved  incapable  through  personal  inca- 
pacity or  adverse  environment  of  surviving  in  the  competi- 
tive struggle  were  thrown  near  or  into  the  ranks  of  depen- 
dency. Among  the  dependents  the  agencies  of  culture  have 
broken  down  in  varying  degrees  and  have  resulted  in  detri- 
ment to  the  physical,  mental,  moral  and  cultural  welfare  of 
the  poor.  Through  congestion  in  large  cities  great  numbers 
of  poor  are  brought  into  proximity  with  one  another.  The 
general  social  isolation  that  separates  them  from  normal  con- 


34  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

tact  with  other  classes  has  permitted  them  to  develop  qualities 
that  react  upon  them  and  aggravate  the  evils  of  their  con- 
dition. In  order,  therefore,  to  understand  modern  poverty 
we  must  study  not  the  single  dependent  family  but  the  aggre- 
gate of  dependence.  We  must  gain  insight  into  the  nature 
and  relations  of  poverty,  its  atmosphere  and  processes.  Hence 
an  approach  to  the  problem  more  or  less  like  that  one  here 
suggested  promises  a  better  grasp  of  recent  thought  concern- 
ing poverty  and  clearer  insight  into  the  numberless  activi- 
ties whose  aim  is  either  the  relief  or  prevention  of  poverty. 
Attempts  have  been  made  frequently  to  classify  the  causes 
of  poverty.  While  some  success  attends  these  efforts  investi- 
gators are  unconsciously  governed  by  their  own  outlook,  limi- 
tations and  prejudices  as  is  shown  by  the  literature  of  relief. 
Hence  instead  of  attempting  to  catalogue  causes  it  seems 
worth  while  to  outline  the  facts  of  life  and  the  phases  of 
social  organization  that  result  in  the  poverty  that  we  know. 
Such  an  analysis  gives  us  a  method  of  understanding  and 
correlating  all  of  the  efforts  resulting  from  our  attempts  to 
conquer  poverty  in  the  name  of  the  social  and  Christian 
ideals  of  life. 


CHAPTEE  III 

THE    QUALITY    OF    POVERTY 

POVERTY  may  be  looked  upon  exclusively  as  the  plight  of 
an  individual  or  of  a  single  dependent  family.  If  the 
father  does  not  earn  sufficient  income  to  maintain  his  family 
according  to  accepted  standards  of  living  the  family  may  be 
called  poor.  If  death  removes  the  breadwinner,  leaving  wife 
and  children  helpless,  these  are  made  dependent.  Now  pov- 
erty understood  in  this  way  appears  in  many  degrees.  It 
ranges  from  the  lowest  level  of  destitution,  degradation  and 
utter  indifference,  to  the  highest  level  in  which  moral  excel- 
lence, intelligence  and  industry  occur  among  those  who  are 
forced  to  receive  assistance  occasionally.  Instances  are  found 
when  illness  or  death,  temporary  idleness  or  the  birth  of  a 
child  strains  the  resources  of  the  family  to  the  breaking 
point.  Again  we  may  find  a  family  capable  of  maintaining 
itself  if  the  mother  and  the  children  work  in  addition  to  the 
father.  In  a  case  like  this  the  economic  independence  of  the 
family  which  lifts  it  above  the  plane  of  material  need  is 
gained  by  the  sacrifice  of  home  life  and  by  depriving  the 
children  of  normal  opportunity  for  education  and  play.  If 
we  could  take  this  narrower  and  particular  view  of  poverty 
and  judge  each  instance  in  itself  without  relation  to  any 
other,  we  could  deal  with  it  adequately  through  mere  relief. 
But  in  doing  this  we  would  be  inclined  to  pay  insufficient 
attention  to  the  history  of  the  family  and  to  its  future.  We 
might  excuse  ourselves  from  attempting  to  understand  why 
the  family  is  poor  and  we  might  leave  consideration  of  its 
welfare  to  future  relief  work.  This  narrowing  of  our  view 
to  a  particular  case  is  apt  to  lead  us  to  ignore  or  underrate 
the  full  implications  of  poverty,  to  hinder  the  development 

35 


36  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

of  foresight  and  to  give  us  diminished  standards  of  service. 

When  social  relations  are  simple  and  social  conditions  are 
fixed  to  a  degree  that  permits  an  extremely  narrow  range  of 
activity,  this  view  of  poverty  will  prevail.  An  isolated  vil- 
lage that  has  not  more  than  three  or  four  dependent  families 
presents  a  simplicity  of  life  and  of  problems  that  makes 
relief  work  simple.  This  must  have  been  the  case  to  a  great 
extent  in  the  time  of  Our  Blessed  Saviour.  He  dealt  with 
the  afflicted,  the  widow,  the  orphan,  in  a  direct,  simple  and 
immediate  way.  He  expressly  commanded  His  followers  to 
give  relief  measured  to  immediate  needs.  He  conferred  upon 
this  simple  and  homely  service  a  touch  of  grandeur  that 
makes  it  forever  resplendent.  At  the  same  time  He  promul- 
gated laws  of  sympathy  and  principles  of  human  relation- 
ship, a  discipline  of  selfishness  and  an  impulse  toward  serv- 
ice that  affected  and  still  affect  the  foundations  of  the  social 
order  itself.  The  complexities  of  modern  society  must  yield 
to  the  touch  of  His  law  and  of  His  spirit  as  did  the  simple 
life  of  His  own  day.  We  must  add  new  duties  toward  the 
poor  as  His  law  directs  and  modern  conditions  require.  But 
no  new  duties  that  we  undertake,  no  complications  that  we 
may  meet,  no  philosophy,  no  investigation  and  no  standards 
that  we  may  ever  adopt  under  the  direction  of  our  highest 
wisdom  and  noblest  impulses  may  lead  us  to  diminish  by 
one  iota  the  spiritual  and  human  worth  of  feeding  the  hungry, 
of  clothing  the  naked,  of  giving  drink  to  the  thirsty  and  of 
comforting  the  afflicted.  We  do  need  and  we  shall  need 
exact  methods  that  will  enable  us  to  find  all  of  the  poor  and 
neglect  none.  We  must  aim  to  prevent  poverty  and  hinder 
irreparable  harm  to  its  victims.  These  are  but  added  duties. 
There  are  never  substitute  duties  for  the  immediate,  literal 
and  sympathetic  relief  of  want  as  we  find  it.  This  wider 
view  of  poverty  and  these  more  exacting  duties  in  dealing 
with  it  become  evident  when  we  study  poverty  not  only  as 
a  plight  of  the  individual  or  single  family  but  also  as  a  plight 
of  society  itself. 

When  we  look  upon  many  dependent  persons  or  families 


37 

instead  of  one,  proportions  are  modified,  views  are  changed 
and  new  impulses  are  stirred.  We  see  poverty  over  a  large 
surface  and  we  see  it  more  deeply.  As  the  microscope  seems 
to  enlarge  objects,  to  emphasize  detail  and  increase  our  power 
of  vision,  the  study  of  many  poor  families  magnifies  the  view 
of  the  single  poor  family.  We  are  enabled  to  see  more  deeply 
and  more  clearly.  The  uniform  action  of  social  forces,  all 
but  invisible  in  a  single  case,  is  displayed  in  the  full  sweep 
of  their  irresistible  power  when  we  see  them  acting  in  a 
larger  way.  These  forces  pick  unerringly  men,  women  and 
children  who  are  unable  to  withstand  the  adverse  pressure 
of  their  environment  and  they  are  huddled  together  in  the 
valleys  of  misery  where  they  declare  the  defeat  of  civiliza- 
tion and  baffle  the  multiplied  resources  of  Christian  life. 

We  must  look  upon  poverty,  therefore,  as  a  plight  of  soci- 
ety, the  condition  of  a  large  social  class  in  which  the  purposes 
of  organized  common  life  fail  of  realization.  It  is  the  out- 
come of  processes  that  discourage  the  weak  and  create  insur- 
mountable social  obstacles  to  their  safety  and  happiness. 
The  prevailing  forces  in  industry  and  society  weaken  further 
those  otherwise  weak,  whereas  the  ideal  condition  should  tend 
to  curb  strength  and  encourage  the  weak  in  the  unity  of  a 
common  social  and  spiritual  ideal.  In  this  way  poverty  con- 
veys a  challenge  to  our  collective  intelligence  which  has  failed 
of  the  foresight  needed  to  prevent  it  and  has  been  indifferent 
on  this  account  to  the  ideals  which  demand  that  we  master 
it.  Poverty  as  a  social  problem  makes  specific  demands  upon 
the  owners  of  wealth,  the  cultured  class,  the  professions  of 
law  and  medicine,  upon  high-minded  men  and  women,  lovers 
of  their  kind,  upon  scholarship  and  statesmanship,  upon  every 
type  of  voluntary  organization  that  professes  genuine  inter- 
est in  the  common  welfare  and  possess  resources  that  may 
contribute  to  it.  It  has  been  said  that  no  indictment  can 
be  drawn  against  a  nation.  Poverty,  however,  draws  an 
indictment  against  society.  The  extent  to  which  all  of  these 
agencies  of  larger  social  action  now  recognize  poverty  as  a 
social  problem  and  obey  the  vision  and  the  impulse  that  leads 


38  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

them  to  contribute  in  their  several  ways  to  the  mastery  of  it 
is  one  of  the  most  encouraging  features  of  modern  life. 

This  hopeful  condition  could  never  have  developed  had  we 
insisted  that  poverty  is  merely  the  plight  of  the  individual 
and  nothing  else.  Only  when  poverty  is  seen  from  the  larger 
social  standpoint,  and  responsibility  for  it  is  brought  in  some 
way  to  the  larger  conscience  of  the  world,  can  we  gain  the 
insight  into  its  organic  nature  of  which  we  have  such  present 
need.  Only  as  increasing  knowledge  of  the  facts  of  poverty 
and  deeper  insight  into  its  processes  and  relations  are  gained 
can  the  conscience  of  the  world  be  stirred  and  can  we  engage 
in  the  greater  task  of  social  reorganization  that  widens  the 
tasks  of  relief  into  those  of  prevention. 

The  State  stands  out  among  all  of  the  agencies  of  social 
action  as  the  ultimate  expression  of  temporal  sovereignty 
and  master  of  the  resources  of  life  available  in  the  task  of 
promoting  social  justice.  Hence  poverty  becomes  in  a  par- 
ticular way  a  problem  for  the  State.  We  discover  among  the 
poor  large  numbers  who  fail  to  enjoy  the  protection  that  the 
State  promises.  The  poor  are  subject  to  conditions  of  nega- 
tive and  positive  kinds  which  defeat  the  ends  of  justice  in 
so  many  ways  and  in  so  many  lives  that  poverty  becomes 
an  indictment  of  the  intelligence,  good  will  and  power  of 
political  sovereignty  itself.  The  bills  of  rights  that  our 
State  constitutions  promulgated  and  defined,  fail  to  include 
definitions  of  rights  which  protect  the  poor  at  the  points  of 
their  greatest  danger.  Reexamination  of  technical  legal 
phrases  that  have  become  as  chains  holding  the  poor  is  made 
necessary.  Amendment  of  constitutions  which  will  permit 
the  State  to  deal  with  social  conditions  and  relations  which 
are  primary  factors  in  poverty  must  be  made.  New  laws 
must  be  enacted.  Laws  enacted  must  be  enforced.  New 
processes  of  administration  and  new  methods  of  procedure 
are  required  in  order  that  all  grosser  forms  of  injustice  may 
be  mastered  and  the  State  may  be  inspired  by  the  new  and 
intelligent  benevolence  made  necessary  in  modern  conditions. 

Waiving  technicalities  which   on  the  whole  have  their 


THE  QUALITY  OF  POVERTY  39 

value,  the  State  in  dealing  with  poverty  must  aim  at  modi- 
fications of  the  property  system,  effective  mastery  of  the 
processes  of  industry  that  bear  on  poverty,  improvement  of 
conditions  in  which  the  poor  live,  the  fostering  of  commu- 
nity activities  that  relate  to  physical,  mental,  moral  and 
social  life  of  the  weaker  classes.  It  must  force  upon  the 
owners  of  wealth  and  directors  of  industry  a  sense  of  new 
responsibility  toward  the  working  class.  It  must  emanci- 
pate the  weak  from  harassing  economic  fear  and  devise  meth- 
ods that  will  reduce  effectively  the  industrial  risks  that  have 
forced  so  many  into  the  ranks  of  the  poor. 

Poverty  must  be  dealt  with  also  as  a  phase  of  the  failure 
of  the  Christian  organization  of  life.  It  is  a  defeat  of  divine 
brotherhood.  It  indicates  an  un-Christian  isolation  of  the 
weak  from  the  strong.  It  exposes  the  latter  to  conditions  in 
which  the  human  and  divine  purposes  of  life  are  baffled. 
Poverty  impoverishes  not  only  the  poor  but  the  world  as 
well.  It  indicates  the  defeat  of  spiritual  aspirations,  arrested 
development  of  life,  loss  of  happiness  and  culture  that  are 
intended  in  the  Divine  plan.  Poverty  indicates  that  the 
law  of  charity  as  promulgated  by  Christ  is  either  deliber- 
ately evaded  or  made  inoperative  through  impossible  social 
conditions.  We  can  understand  the  poor  only  by  studying 
the  rich.  We  know  the  weak  only  when  we  know  the  strong. 
The  latter  are  victims  of  error,  false  ideals  and  triumphant 
selfishness,  of  a  tyranny  of  system  which  makes  them  only 
too  often  willing  slaves  and  leads  them  into  self-deceiving 
excuses  for  their  disregarding  of  the  wider  law  of  the  King- 
dom of  Christ. 

That  law  is  nobly  expressed  in  a  line  whose  authorship 
unfortunately  escapes  memory.  "The  law  of  life  leads  away 
from  poverty  as  a  social  condition  and  toward  poverty  as  a 
spiritual  condition." 

From  this  truth  we  infer  that  the  first  step  in  dealing 
effectively  with  poverty  must  be  spiritual.  There  must  be  a 
conversion  of  heart  that  will  lead  the  strong  to  seek  the  way, 
the  truth  and  the  life  in  Jesus  Christ.  This  must  be  done 


40  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

by  their  own  choice.  Jesus  Christ  does  not  compel  the 
acceptance  of  His  law.  There  are  no  tyrannies  in  His  King- 
dom. He  offers  His  truth  and  His  graces  and  awaits  our 
choice.  Brotherhood  in  Him  is  a  social  no  less  than  spiritual 
truth.  It  is  a  principle  of  social  life,  an  axiom  in  political 
life,  an  immediate,  personal,  moral  law  in  the  everyday  life 
and  relations  of  all  who  believe  in  Him.  It  is  vain  to  seek 
to  deal  effectively  with  poverty  unless  we  first  recognize  it 
as  the  unhappy  harvest  of  error  and  of  evil.  Redemption 
from  these  comes  to  us  through  Jesus  Christ  alone. 

Poverty  is,  therefore,  a  plight  of  the  individual  poor,  a 
plight  of  society,  a  plight  of  the  State,  a  plight  of  Chris- 
tianity. It  is  a  challenge  to  the  poor  themselves  who  must 
do  their  own  utmost  whatever  it  be  in  working  out  their 
own  redemption  through  sheer  force  of  industry,  good  will 
and  ambition.  It  is  a  challenge  to  society  that  calls  forth  far- 
reaching  action  by  all  of  the  organized  agencies  of  common 
life.  It  is  a  plight  of  the  State  which  must  study  anew  the 
demands  of  social  justice  and  incorporate  its  deeper  vision 
into  laws  made  effective  by  wise  and  benevolent  administra- 
tion. 

It  is  a  challenge  to  Christianity.  The  individual  Christian 
gifted  with  powers  and  resources  is  called  upon  to  examine 
his  conscience  and  test  his  philosophy  of  life  and  his  schedule 
of  values  by  the  spirit  and  commands  of  Christ.  The 
Church  as  the  authorized  interpreter  of  the  law  of  Christ  is 
called  upon  to  declare  His  law  and  utter  His  judgments  as 
the  moral,  spiritual  and  social  helplessness  of  the  poor  indi- 
cates a  departure  from  the  standards  of  the  Christian  life. 

There  are  social  as  well  as  spiritual  aspects  of  the  mission 
of  the  Church.  She  is  called  upon  within  the  limits  of  her 
power  to  serve  every  wholesome  social  end  which  contributes 
to  the  protection  of  justice,  the  insurance  of  social  peace  and 
the  happy  development  of  the  cultural  forces  of  life.  Since 
the  principles  of  the  Christian  life  must  be  expressed  in  the 
terms  of  social  relations,  there  is  no  aspect  of  poverty  whether 
individual  or  social  which  may  not  engage  her  solicitude  and 


THE  QUALITY  OF  POVEKTY       41 

invite  the  help  of  her  resources.  This  participation  on  the 
part  of  the  Church  in  the  battle  for  social  justice  and  against 
poverty  depends  in  last  analysis  on  the  initiative  of  the  indi- 
vidual, whether  bishop,  priest  or  layman.  Church  authori- 
ties encourage,  welcome  and  assist,  but  they  do  not  compel. 
Hence  every  child  of  the  Church  who  would  be  true  to  his 
graces  and  worthy  of  his  spiritual  inheritance  should  feel 
a  definite  responsibility  toward  the  modern  world  to  do  his 
utmost  as  citizen  no  less  than  as  Christian  in  the  struggle  for 
righteousness.  Anything  less  than  this  makes  one  unworthy 
of  one's  graces  and  a  poor  representative  of  the  ideals  of 
Christian  life.  Any  view  that  removes  the  larger  social 
aspects  of  poverty  from  the  immediate  concern  of  the  Church 
would  lead  to  the  surrender  of  her  moral  and  spiritual  lead- 
ership at  a  time  when  the  world  is  most  in  need  of  it. 


CHAPTER  IV 

POVERTY    AND    ITS    IMPLICATIONS 

THERE  are  those  who  seem  to  think  that  the  poor  are 
unlike  the  rest  of  mankind,  that  they  are  destined  to  be  poor, 
adapted  by  temperament  to  poverty  and  that  there  is  no  way 
of  preventing  it.  They  are  discussed,  described,  dealt  with 
as  belonging  to  a  separate  order  of  nature.  Those  who  hold 
this  view  believe,  for  instance,  that  one  is  born  to  a  certain 
station  and  should  remain  there.  Nothing  should  be  under- 
taken which  should  lead  the  poor  to  be  discontented  with 
their  lot  or  arouse  in  their  hearts  futile  aspirations  toward 
any  higher  order  of  life.  Those  who  share  such  views  resem- 
ble some  of  Bulwer  Lytton's  characters  who  are  described  as 
"very  good  to  the  poor  whom  they  looked  upon  as  a  different 
order  of  creation  and  treated  with  that  sort  of  benevolence 
which  humane  people  bestow  upon  dumb  animals." 

This  view  is  unworthy  of  the  strong,  fatal  to  the  poor 
themselves  when  they  believe  it  and  contrary  to  the  funda- 
mental beliefs  upon  which  free  government  rests.  Poverty 
is  the  result  of  social  arrangement  or  disarrangement.  There 
is  no  decree  of  nature  in  regard  to  specific  persons.  There 
are  those  who  lack  the  qualities  required  in  the  competitive 
struggle.  There  will  be  failures  in  a  competitive  civilization 
as  there  would  be  in  a  cooperative  civilization.  Our  favorite 
argument  against  economic  socialism  is  that  it  would  shape 
institutions  for  the  advantage  of  the  weaker  class  and  at  the 
same  time  defy  the  power  of  the  strong,  stifle  their  aspira- 
tions and  react  to  the  detriment  of  civilization.  Competi- 
tion among  unequals  when  conducted  without  restraint  or 
mercy  searches  out  the  unfit  and  visits  the  penalties  of  their 
weakness  upon  them.  Some  fail  in  the  competitive  struggle 

42 


POVEKTY  AND  ITS  IMPLICATIONS         43 

because  of  personal  incapacity.  Some  fail  through  accident, 
disease,  industrial  risk,  commercial  disaster  and  other  un- 
classified incidents  and  accidents  of  life.  Now  these  pro- 
cesses have  nothing  to  do  with  types  of  persons.  Hfence  it  is 
vain  to  believe  that  poverty  is  a  status  or  that  there  are  some 
who  are  poor  by  the  decree  of  nature  or  of  God. 

The  processes  of  life  have  brought  together  large  numbers 
who  are  directly  or  indirectly  victims  of  the  competitive 
system.  They  live  among  themselves,  physically,  socially 
and  morally  isolated  from  the  strong.  They  show  identical 
moral,  social  and  industrial  traits  which  are  to  a  great  extent 
the  result  of  poverty  as  well  as  the  cause  of  it.  Poverty 
makes  the  type  that  we  call  poor.  The  type  does  not  make 
poverty.  We  are  unduly  influenced  by  a  fallacy  of  con- 
centration that  leads  us  to  see  and  to  judge  poverty  as  a  static 
condition  instead  of  seeing  dependent  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren threshed  out  of  life  by  the  competitive  process  and 
huddled  together.  We  should  see  the  process  behind  each 
victim  and  not  the  resemblances  among  victims  if  we  would 
gain  the  only  insight  into  poverty  that  is  either  true  or 
helpful.  A  single  happy  incident,  an  acquaintanceship,  a 
relationship  that  attracts  attention  may  gain  for  a  poor  boy 
or  a  poor  girl  or  a  widow,  friendship  or  opportunity  that 
leads  straight  to  success  and  power.  Such  facts  and  they 
are  without  number,  put  on  end  to  the  impression  that  there 
is  any  type  in  nature  destined  to  be  poor. 

Modern  conditions  force  us  to  deal  with  poverty  in  the 
aggregate  as  a  problem  of  society  and  the  State  and  of  Chris- 
tianity no  less  than  as  a  problem  of  the  individual.  So  long 
as  there  is  a  geography  of  poverty  there  will  be  a  psychology 
of  poverty.  So  long  as  there  is  a  psychology  of  poverty  we 
are  exposed  to  the  danger  of  believing  that  the  poor  are  a 
social  type.  There  will  be  no  intelligent  service  of  the  poor 
until  we  believe  in  their  capacity  for  resurrection  following 
their  crucifixion  and  until  we  stir  all  of  the  resources  of  life 
to  make  that  resurrection  possible.  The  following  para- 
graphs from  Dickens'  "Hard  Times"  are  well  worth  reading : 


44 

For  the  first  time  in  her  life,  Louisa  had  come  into  one  of  the 
dwellings  of  the  Coketown  hands;  for  the  first  time  in  her  life, 
she  was  face  to  face  with  anything  like  individuality  in  connection 
with  them.  She  knew  of  their  existence  by  hundreds  and  by  thou- 
sands. She  knew  what  results  in  work  a  given  number  of  them 
would  produce  in  a  given  space  of  time.  She  knew  them  in  crowds 
passing  to  and  fro  from  their  nests  like  ants  or  beetles.  But  she 
knew  from  her  reading  infinitely  more  of  the  ways  of  toiling  in- 
sects than  of  these  toiling  men  and  women. 

Something  to  be  worked  so  much  and  paid  so  much,  and  there 
ended;  something  to  be  infallibly  settled  by  laws  of  supply  and 
demand;  something  that  blundered  against  those  laws  and  floun- 
dered into  difficulty;  something  that  was  a  little  pinched  when 
wheat  was  dear  and  overate  itself  when  wheat  was  cheap;  some- 
thing that  increased  at  such  a  rate  of  percentage,  and  yielded 
such  another  percentage  of  time,  and  such  another  percentage  of 
pauperism;  something  wholesale,  of  which  vast  fortunes  were 
made;  something  that  occasionally  rose  like  a  sea  and  did  some 
harm  and  waste  (chiefly  to  itself)  and  fell  again;  this  she  knew 
the  Coketown  hands  to  be.  But  she  had  scarcely  thought  more 
of  separating  them  into  units  than  of  separating  the  sea  itself 
into  its  component  drops. 

.  .  .  showed  how  the  workers  would  get  drunk,  the  chemist  and 
druggist  showed  that  those  who  did  not  drink  took  opium,  and 
the  jail  chaplain  showed  that  they  resorted  to  low  haunts,  then 
the  two  named  could  show  that  these  same  people  were  a  bad  lot 
altogether,  gentlemen;  that,  do  what  you  would  for  them,  they 
were  never  thankful,  gentlemen ;  that  they  were  restless,  gentlemen ; 
that  they  never  knew  what  they  wanted;  that  they  lived  upon  the 
best,  and  bought  fresh  butter,  and  insisted  on  Mocha  coffee,  and 
rejected  all  but  prime  parts  of  meat,  and  yet  were  eternally  dis- 
satisfied and  unmanageable. 

Poverty  is  massive.  Dependent  families,  dependent  and 
neglected  children,  homeless  and  aimless  men  and  women, 
deserted  wives,  victims  of  accidents,  of  acute  and  chronic 
forms  of  disease,  helpless  victims  of  sin,  themselves  as  in- 
nocent as  angels,  victims  of  involuntary  idleness  no  less  than 
of  vicious  habits  are  found  in  all  of  our  industrial  centers 
in  distressingly  large  numbers.  If  we  include  among  the 
poor  those  who  gain  income  at  the  pitiable  sacrifice  of  health 
and  home  life  and  of  child  life;  also  those  who  depend  on 


POVERTY  AND  ITS  IMPLICATIONS          45 

charity  only  at  intervals  the  aggregate  number  is  staggering. 
It  is  impractical  to  attempt  measurement  of  the  extent  of 
poverty.  The  popular  estimate  of  ten  million  persons  in  the 
United  States  who  are  not  one  week  removed  from  poverty 
may  be  an  exaggeration.  Could  the  number  be  placed  safely 
at  one-fourth  of  that,  the  aggregate  would  still  be  staggering. 
It  is  difficult  to  find  any  city  in  which  the  agencies  of  relief 
would  for  a  moment  pretend  that  they  were  reaching  all 
who  needed  help  or  were  giving  that  help  with  effective  care. 
No  superficial  views,  no  mistaken  attitudes  toward  the  poor, 
no  assumptions  of  their  wholesale  guilt  can  hide  the  fact  that 
our  outstanding  poverty  is  our  outstanding  disgrace. 

Poverty  is  complex.  The  condition  of  the  poor  represents 
recurrent  action  of  many  social  forces.  This  is  made  evident 
the  moment  we  attempt  to  write  the  history  and  analyze  the 
condition  of  a  single  dependent  family.  It  is  made  more 
evident  the  moment  we  set  about  the  work  of  rehabilitation 
of  a  single  family  and  the  protection  of  its  independence 
and  dignity  in  the  normal  course  of  life.  The  rehabilitation 
of  a  single  family  may  require  finding  employment  for  the 
father  and  fitting  him  for  it,  instruction  in  housekeeping 
for  the  mother,  preventive  care  of  health  of  children,  the 
watching  of  school  attendance,  kindly  direction  of  the  way- 
ward child,  protection  of  legal  rights  and  the  removal  of  the 
family  to  a  new  neighborhood.  Any  one  who  has  worked 
with  intelligence  among  the  poor  knows  that  a  single  depen- 
dent family  is  a  cross  section  of  all  poverty.  Now  to  give 
material  relief  which  is  an  extremely  important  service  and 
to  close  the  eyes  to  the  processes  that  threaten  a  family 
would  be  most  inadequate  service  and  a  poor  expression  of 
the  rich  resources  of  intelligent  love  of  the  poor. 

Poverty  is  organic.  It  is  the  outcome  of  social  philosophy, 
institutions,  conditions  and  relations.  It  is  a  symptom  of 
the  operation  of  social  processes  that  control  all  organized 
life.  It  is  not  fortuitous.  It  is  not  the  result  of  a  decree 
of  the  strong  or  the  arbitrary  choice  of  the  weak.  It  is  the 
inevitable  outcome  of  the  organization  and  conditions  of  life. 


46  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

Only  when  we  look  upon  it  as  organic  can  we  understand 
the  pitiable  inadequacy  of  relief  alone.  Only  then  can  we 
gain  insight  into  its  real  nature  and  can  we  feel  the  stirring 
of  impulses  that  would  lead  us  to  deal  with  processes,  insti- 
tutions, conditions  and  relations  in  our  efforts  to  conquer 
it.  This  organic  view  forces  us  to  study  the  ethical  codes 
that  prevail  in  life,  the  relations  of  social  classes,  the  prop- 
erty system,  the  social  philosophy  of  the  strong,  the  inef- 
fectiveness of  the  discipline  of  religion,  the  conduct  of  indus- 
try, the  process  of  legislation  and  the  tyranny  of  conditions 
in  the  lives  of  the  weak. 

Neither  amiable  assumptions  nor  mere  sympathy,  how- 
ever earnest,  nor  prejudice  however  firm,  nor  complacent 
self-confidence,  however  dignified,  can  by  any  expected  mir- 
acle serve  as  substitutes  for  earnest  study,  scholarly  insight, 
docility  of  mind  and  painstaking  service  in  undertaking  to 
bring  justice,  happiness  and  peace  to  the  victims  of  poverty. 
Mistaken  notions  of  the  nature  of  poverty,  of  the  meaning  of 
social  service,  of  the  law  of  Christian  charity,  die  slowly. 
But  nothing  can  kill  them  more  effectively  than  information 
as  to  the  facts  of  poverty,  insight  into  its  organic  nature  and 
a  generosity  that  forbids  us  to  hesitate  at  any  cost  in  the 
full  expression  of  intelligent  Christian  love.  It  is  possible 
to  see  nothing  in  poverty  except  the  plight  of  the  individual 
and  to  see  no  duty  except  that  of  relief,  comfort  and  ad- 
vice as  cases  present  themselves.  It  is  possible  to  shut  one's 
eyes  to  the  wider  bearings  of  poverty  but  it  can  be  done  only 
in  defiance  of  scholarly  standards  and  at  the  cost  of  per- 
petuating the  misery  of  the  poor. 

Much  of  the  harm  done  by  poverty  is  irreparable.  The 
adult  who  is  illiterate,  shiftless  and  irresponsible  is  irrep- 
arably harmed.  Food  may  satisfy  his  hunger  but  who  shall 
restore  the  birthright  of  mind  and  soul,  stolen  from  him  for 
all  time  through  the  neglect  that  cursed  his  early  life? 
Children  led  by  the  circumstances  of  poverty  into  the  ways 
of  sin  may  be  redeemed  by  the  grace  of  God  in  His  holy 
providence.  But  the  task  of  befriending  them  and  making 


POVERTY  AND  ITS  IMPLICATIONS          47 

them  noble  has  been  made  infinitely  more  difficult  through 
the  harm  against  which  we  had  failed  to  protect  them. 
Harm  to  health  and  limb,  recklessness  born  of  despair,  and 
waywardness  that  seemed  to  be  the  only  escape  from  misery 
indicate  a  quality  and  extent  of  harm  that  tax  the  utmost 
resources  of  our  wisdom  in  our  efforts  to  render  service. 
It  is  easy  to  understand  the  spirit  that  prompted  Hawthorne 
to  speak  as  follows  after  observing  the  poor  of  London. 

I  never  could  find  it  in  my  heart,  however,  utterly  to  condemn 
these  sad  revelers,  and  should  certainly  wait  till  I  had  some  better 
consolation  to  offer  before  depriving  them  of  their  dram  of  gin, 
though  death  itself  were  in  the  glass;  for  methought  their  poor 
souls  needed  such  fiery  stimulant  to  lift  them  a  little  way  out  of 
the  smothering  squalor  of  both  their  outward  and  interior  life, 
giving  them  glimpses  and  suggestions,  even  if  bewildering  ones, 
of  a  spiritual  existence  tbat  limited  their  present  misery.  The 
temperance  reformers  unquestionably  derive  their  commission 
from  tbe  Divine  Beneficence,  but  have  never  been  taken  fully  into 
its  counsels. 

The  poor  suffer  much  from  their  friends.  They  who 
stand  most  in  need  of  help  are  least  capable  of  being  bene- 
fited by  it.  The  service  of  the  poor  requires  infinite  tact, 
acute  understanding  of  social  processes  and  human  nature, 
delicacy  and  patience  of  the  most  exacting  kind.  Lacking 
love  of  full  physical  life  and  opportunity  for  it,  they  are 
indifferent  to  the  measures  that  would  promote  their  health. 
Lacking  intellectual  capacity  and  dulled  by  their  environ- 
ment great  numbers  of  them  show  no  response  to  provisions 
for  their  education  and  refinement  and  no  concern  about 
the  lack  of  these  in  their  lives.  When  the  friends  of  the 
poor  lack  understanding  and  insight  they  are  more  concerned 
about  expressing  their  charity  than  about  expressing  it  by 
effective  care.  Indiscriminate  sympathy,  inadequate  stand- 
ards, careless  methods  of  numbers  who  give  relief  form 
temptations  against  which  many  of  the  poor  struggle  in  vain. 
Thus  they  are  paralyzed,  robbed  of  their  self-respect,  encour- 
aged in  deceit  and  laziness,  and  thereby  all  but  irreparably 


48  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHAEITY 

harmed  by  their  very  friends  who  often  act  in  this  way  in  the 
name  of  charity  itself. 

The  poor  are  harmed  sometimes  by  the  excessive  idealism 
of  their  friends,  by  those  who  lose  sight  of  the  limitations 
of  life  and  abandon  themselves  to  the  seduction  of  an  indis- 
criminate idealism.  Patience  with  the  limitations  of  life, 
and  a  discreet  allowance  for  the  harassing  difficulties  under 
which  the  poor  labor  can  do  much  to  prevent  these  mis- 
directed efforts  and  the  harm  that  results  from  them. 

Poverty  is  inert.  Its  very  nature  indicates  lack  of  re- 
sources, lack  of  impulse  and  opportunity  to  rise,  lack  of  op- 
portunity for  a  normal  share  in  the  blessings  of  life.  This 
indisposition  of  poverty  to  help  itself  is  one  of  its  most  baf- 
fling qualities.  Since  everything  has  happened  to  the  poor 
nothing  is  left  to  be  feared.  A  kind  of  fatalism  leads  them 
to  accept  every  kind  of  misfortune  and  disposes  them  to 
bear  it  without  struggle.  There  is  a  curious  joyousness 
about  them,  a  buoyancy  that  springs  from  a  lack  of  sense 
of  responsibility.  This  is  perhaps  the  element  that  contrib- 
utes most  to  the  saving  of  their  reason.  When  relief  comes 
to  the  poor,  it  comes  from  a  class  alien  to  them  in  experience, 
association  and  culture.  It  is  presented  often  in  an  awk- 
ward and  patronizing  way  that  defeats  its  purpose.  All 
who  work  among  the  poor  agree  in  undertaking  to  develop 
in  them  the  impulse  to  self-help.  Yet,  as  Conrad  tells  us, 
there  is  a  kind  of  way  of  assisting  our  fellow  creatures  which 
is  enough  to  break  their  hearts. 

We  have  been  taught  that  the  prospect  of  acquiring  and 
owning  property  securely  is  necessary  to  develop  character, 
enterprise,  foresight,  self-discipline  and  ambition  in  the 
human  race.  Believers  in  individualism  have  claimed  con- 
stantly that  no  other  motive  and  prospect  can  be  sufficiently 
powerful  to  arouse  the  latent  energies  of  the  race,  stimulate 
industrial  development  and  promote  human  progress.  The 
argument  is  undoubtedly  true.  But  if  the  strong  depend  on 
the  prospect  of  acquiring  and  enjoying  property  in  their  de- 
velopment what  may  we  expect  in  justice  and  mercy  from 


POVERTY  AND  ITS  IMPLICATIONS         49 

the  weaker  classes,  notably  the  dependent  to  whom  prospect 
and  opportunity  for  acquiring  and  enjoying  property  are  de- 
nied ?  They  who  are  least  resourceful  of  themselves  are  pre- 
vented from  contact  with  the  source  from  which  the  strong 
derive  their  stimulation  and  self-discipline.  Goldsmith  said 
in  one  of  his  letters  to  his  brother:  "Frugality  and  avarice  in 
the  lower  orders  of  mankind  are  true  ambition.  These  offer 
the  only  ladder  for  the  poor  to  rise  to  preferment."  Thia 
is  perhaps  good  psychology  but  bad  ethics.  Nevertheless 
it  sets  before  us  a  factor  that  is  fundamental  in  the  weakness 
of  the  poor.  From  this  standpoint  we  gain  an  insight  into 
the  wholesome  impulse  that  leads  society  at  this  late  date 
to  bring  prospect  of  ownership  of  property  nearer  to  the 
disinherited  social  class. 

Again  we  are  taught  that  substantial  trust  in  the  social 
order  is  necessary  for  a  happy  and  disciplined  life.  Belief 
in  the  benevolent  mission  of  the  State,  confidence  that  rights 
will  be  protected  with  impartial  fidelity,  the  enjoyment  of 
service  and  guarantees  in  orderly  life  are  essential  in  build- 
ing up  the  tone  of  confidence  that  accompanies  the  strivings 
of  ambition.  Now  the  poor  have  no  such  experience  of  the 
benevolence  of  the  social  order.  It  has  decreed  and  it  tol- 
erates their  poverty  and  misery.  It  has  built  up  an  elaborate 
process  for  the  protection  of  property  rights  but  the  poor  have 
no  property.  It  is  a  baffling  paradox  to  recognize  that  the 
system  of  private  property  prevents  the  weak  from  having 
property.  Freedom  of  speech,  freedom  of  assembly,  free- 
dom of  contract,  have  little  if  any  meaning  in  the  actual  lives 
of  the  poor  but  there  are  many  distinctive  general  dangers 
that  are  causing  tragedy  every  day  in  the  lives  of  the  poor. 
Against  these  the  poor  have  found  themselves  helpless  and 
undefended.  The  moment  the  stronger  classes  lose  their 
confidence  in  government  we  are  near  to  the  disintegration 
of  the  nation's  life.  The  poor  have  no  such  confidence  and 
they  lack  the  enrichment  of  strengthened  impulse  that  it 
might  engender. 

The  poor  take  short  outlooks.     Neither  future  nor  past 


50  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

means  much  to  many  of  them.  They  live  near  to  reality, 
from  day  to  day.  Neither  memory  nor  anticipation  can  do 
much  for  them.  Johnson  says  in  the  "Rambler" :  "Among 
the  lower  classes  of  mankind  there  will  be  found  very  little 
desire  for  any  other  knowledge  than  what  may  contribute 
immediately  to  the  relief  of  some  uneasiness  or  the  attain- 
ment of  some  near  advantage." 

It  is  this  lack  of  outlook  together  with  emphasis  upon  pres- 
ent lower  needs  that  makes  so  many  of  the  poor  indifferent 
to  education  and  unconcerned  about  income  that  will  relieve 
their  daily  wants.  If  the  quality  of  civilization  is  measured 
by  the  degree  of  foresight  that  the  nation  shows;  and  if  in 
a  corresponding  way  living  from  day  to  day  without  regard 
to  a  long  future  and  higher  things  is  an  outstanding  trait 
of  primitive  people,  we  find  here  an  indication  of  the  place 
of  the  poor  in  the  story  of  human  progress. 

The  following  from  an  address  by  Elihu  Root  in  honor 
of  the  founders  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  in  New 
York  indicates  the  spiritual  and  cultural  elements  whose 
defeat  is  so  marked  in  poverty : 

"They  understood  that  the  cultivation  of  taste  is  one  of  the 
mightiest  agencies  in  the  eternal  conflict,  the  struggle  for  happi- 
ness against  the  discontent  and  the  tedium  of  life.  They  knew 
that  when  for  rich  and  poor  alike  food  and  drink  and  clothing 
and  shelter  have  been  supplied,  there  still  comes  the  question  of 
happiness.  They  knew  that  then  Satan  enters  into  the  empty 
chambers  of  the  soul  that  has  no  spiritual  interest  in  life.  They 
knew  what  we  see  to-day,  that  the  great  problem  for  the  laboring 
people  of  America,  with  their  higher  wages  and  their  shorter 
hours,  is  what  to  do  with  their  higher  wages  and  their  leisure 
hours.  They  knew  that  no  wealth  and  no  material  things  can 
fill  the  void  in  human  nature.  And  with  that  deep  knowledge 
they  proceeded  with  a  breadth  of  view  worthy  of  all  honor.  They 
determined  to  establish  an  institution  which  should  be  not  to  gratify 
curiosity,  but  to  educate  taste,  which  should  be  not  for  amusement 
but  an  essential  means  of  high  cultivation.  And  they  declared 
that  they  were  determined  to  establish  an  institution  which  should 
gather  for  the  education  of  all  the  people  the  human  documents 
of  art  in  all  its  phases  and  in  all  possibilities — painting  and  sculp- 


POVERTY  AND  ITS  IMPLICATIONS          51 

ture,  the  graphic  arts,  handiwork,  textiles  and  metals,  music,  the 
arts  of  East  and  West,  of  the  present  and  the  past — all  were  to 
be  made  to  contribute  toward  the  cultivation  of  that  taste  which 
makes  for  human  happiness. 

Poverty  is  to  a  great  extent  anonymous.  That  is  to  say 
the  normal  social  bonds  that  fix  one's  place  in  society  and 
furnish  the  basis  of  normal  attachments  are  often  lacking 
among  the  poor.  There  are  strong  and  weak  in  nearly  every 
family,  particularly  in  large  families.  The  former  provide 
for  the  latter  with  tender  and  watchful  love  and  in  a  spirit 
of  generosity  and  thoughtfulness  that  are  noble  in  the  ex- 
treme. Now  when  the  family  as  a  whole  is  weak,  when  its 
spiritual  and  social  unity  is  disturbed  and  resources  are  lack- 
ing the  tendency  to  disruption  becomes  marked.  This  proc- 
ess has  a  far-reaching  effect  upon  the  poor.  It  is  not  excep- 
tional to  find  members  of  a  successful  family  scattered  in 
many  cities  and  remaining  out  of  touch  with  one  another. 
But  when  the  family  tie  is  weakened  among  the  poor  the  in- 
dividual members  who  drift  into  the  lower  levels  of  de- 
pendency enter  the  mass  of  anonymous  poor.  One  of  the 
first  steps  taken  by  an  intelligent  social  worker  is  to  find  and 
reconstruct  the  family  bond.  The  bonds  of  neighborhood, 
of  religion,  of  employment,  of  race,  which  should  theoreti- 
cally unite  strong  and  weak  in  some  kind  of  human  associa- 
tion have  been  broken  down  so  generally  that  the  weak  are 
not  reenforced  by  them  and  they  become  practically  anony- 
mous. If  all  of  these  social  bonds  retained  their  normal 
strength  and  operated  to  awaken  in  the  strong  a  sense  of  re- 
sponsibility toward  their  weak,  the  complexities  of  poverty 
would  be  greatly  simplified.  But  these  bonds  have  been 
broken.  The  poor  become  anonymous  and  unstable.  They 
move  from  place  to  place.  Instead  of  depending  on  per- 
sonal knowledge  and  immediate  normal  touch  in  the  relations 
of  the  strong  to  their  own  poor  we  contrive  to  depend  on 
records,  investigations,  card  catalogues  as  we  deal  with  the 
masses  of  poor  in  a  modern  city. 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  gain  made  through  our 


52  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

insight  into  the  psychological  aspects  of  poverty  is  accompa- 
nied by  a  tendency  to  misunderstand  and  even  ignore  the 
elements  of  sin  to  be  found  in  it.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
that  theologians  were  disposed  long  ago  to  associate  the  insti- 
tution of  private  property  with  sin.  Their  view  was  that 
private  property  would  have  been  unnecessary  except  for 
the  disorder  in  human  desire  caused  by  sin. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  in  many  cases  poverty  results  from 
specific  individual  sin  on  the  part  of  the  strong.  They  vio- 
late the  laws  of  God  that  they  might  have  respected  and 
their  sinning  leads  directly  to  injustice,  fraud,  oppression 
and  neglect  of  duty  which  become  paramount  in  poverty. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  in  many  instances  sin  on  the  part 
of  the  poor  is  indicated  as  the  determining  cause  of  their 
poverty.  There  can  be  no  safe  guidance  in  psychological 
study  if  it  leads  us  to  ignore  the  sin  element  in  our  problem. 
Where  sin  has  been  a  cause,  repentance  alone  is  remedy.  No 
constructive  policies  can  replace  the  grace  of  God  and  the 
action  of  the  will  in  dealing  with  the  sin  element  as  a  cause 
of  poverty.  Sins  of  employers,  sins  of  wealth,  negative  and 
positive  sins  of  lawmakers,  sins  of  commerce  and  of  trade 
are  factors  of  poverty  no  less  than  wife  desertion,  deliberate 
immorality,  hatred  or  lawlessness  on  the  part  of  the  poor 
themselves. 

All  of  this  is  increasingly  misunderstood  because  there  are 
so  many  who  eliminate  God  from  their  social  science  and 
who  drop  the  word  sin  from  their  vocabulary.  Having  lost 
spiritual  vision  they  have  no  talent  that  enables  them  to  see 
spiritual  processes,  spiritual  laws  and  the  action  of  Divine 
Grace  in  human  life.  There  is  no  duty  toward  the  poor 
more  pressing  than  that  laid  upon  the  Church,  of  asserting 
the  spiritual  element  in  life,  of  declaring  the  supremacy  of 
the  law  of  God  and  its  immediate  obligations  throughout 
the  entire  range  of  social  life.  The  most  important  chapter 
in  any  account  of  poverty  is  one  that  should  declare  and 
deal  with  it  as  a  spiritual  phenomenon.  One  of  the  most 
discouraging  results  of  recent  scholarship  is  in  the  establish- 


53 

merit  of  the  sociological  view  of  poverty  and  the  awakening 
of  the  impulse  to  deal  with  it  from  the  standpoint  of  social 
processes  alone.  Unless  the  soul  is  kept  in  view  and  spiritual 
processes  are  recognized  and  the  law  of  God  is  counted  as  a 
factor,  research  and  reconstruction  will  fail. 

The  spiritual  interests  of  the  poor  are  a  supreme  concern 
of  the  Church.  Reduced  powers  of  physical  resistance  ex- 
pose one  to  disease  in  a  way  similar  to  that  in  which  reduced 
resistance  to  moral  peril  endangers  character  and  smoothes 
the  way  to  sin.  The  relation  of  delinquency  to  poverty  offers 
a  searching  challenge  to  the  Church.  Social  factors  in  moral- 
ity are  far-reaching.  If  wholesome  environment,  effective 
moral  and  mental  training,  vigorous  home  ideals  and  good 
example  are  fundamental  in  all  life,  who  shall  measure  the 
extent  to  which  lack  of  these  results  in  every  kind  of  delin- 
quency that  we  find  among  the  poor  ? 


CHAPTER  V 

JUSTICE 

THE  passion  for  justice  lies  deep  in  the  heart  of  the  world. 
Whenever  men  have  become  thoughtful  and  responsive  to 
ideals  that  quicken  the  pulse  of  life  they  have  offered  stern 
resistance  against  obstacles  which  stood  in  the  way  of  their 
happiness  and  growth.  Respect  for  justice  is  respect  for 
life.  Indifference  to  it  is  indifference  to  death.  Men  can- 
not live  together  except  as  a  sense  of  justice  is  developed 
among  them  and  each  individual  is  surrounded  by  safeguards 
which  shield  his  personality,  further  his  aspirations  and  offer 
opportunity  to  develop  his  powers.  The  passion  for  justice 
takes  its  direction  and  its  demands  gain  their  content  from 
the  practical  ideals  of  life  that  prevail  at  any  time.  There 
are  souls  without  aspiration,  minds  without  initiative  and 
indifferent  to  enslavement,  hearts  that  feel  no  protest  against 
oppression  and  speak  no  anguish  of  defeated  hope.  But 
such  are  not  representative.  They  do  not  live  or  feel  with 
complete  powers. 

Normal  men  and  women  wish  to  live,  to  grow,  to  feel 
equal  to  their  tasks  and  worthy  of  their  opportunities;  to 
attain  to  self-realization  and  self-expression,  in  the  terms  of 
accepted  ideals.  Views  of  the  nature,  relations  and  destiny 
of  man  are  the  very  roots  of  life.  Codes,  customs,  social 
valuations  and  self-estimates  that  touch  the  hearts  of  multi- 
tudes and  arouse  their  emotions  are  but  outcroppings  on  the 
surface  of  life,  of  estimates  of  life  that  make  the  foundation 
of  the  world.  The  quality  of  a  civilization  is  indicated  by 
its  prevailing  views  of  life  and  by  the  earnestness  and  effect 
with  which  social  authority  teaches  them  and  realizes  them 
in  the  lives  of  increasing  numbers.  The  failure  of  a  civili- 

54 


JUSTICE  55 

zation  is  indicated  by  its  errors  in  fundamental  views  of  life 
or  its  indifference  to  those  which  are  true. 

The  passion  for  justice  is  essentially  spiritual.  Life  is  the 
gift  of  God.  Jesus  Christ  placed  an  eternal  value  in  the 
nature  and  destiny  of  the  individual  and  enveloped  person- 
ality in  a  sanctity  which  becomes  law  to  us  and  to  institutions. 
The  soul  acting  through  intelligence  and  will  is  the  basis  of 
personality.  The  roots  of  our  dignity,  the  law  of  our  destiny 
and  the  pattern  of  every  approved  relation  into  which  we 
enter  are  found  in  this  spiritual  element  in  each  of  us. 
Rights  are  extensions  of  personality,  assurances  of  sanctioned 
moral  control  over  conditions,  institutions,  persons  or  things 
as  these  relate  to  personality  in  the  unfolding  of  individual 
and  social  life.  Our  nature  destines  us  to  live  among  others 
and  in  fixed  relations  to  them.  Communities  exist  in  the 
plan  of  nature  in  order  that  individuals  may  live,  grow  and 
gain  their  ends.  Our  rights  are  restraints  on  others  lest  they 
crowd,  oppress  or  defeat  us  in  our  legitimate  ways  and  aims. 
Obligations  are  our  contributions  to  the  common  life  for  the 
sake  of  the  rights  of  others  or  of  communities.  Rights  are 
protective  at  the  points  of  danger  to  our  welfare  and  peace. 

Love  of  justice  is  but  love  of  life,  of  completed  personality, 
and  as  such  it  is  an  integral  part  of  the  character  of  the  nor- 
mal man  and  woman.  When  rights  fall  short  of  aspira- 
tions, or  defiance  of  them  and  indifference  to  them  are  found 
among  the  powerful  because  of  their  strength,  the  passion 
for  justice  appears  as  a  collective  power  that  asserts  itself 
in  defense  of  the  weak  with  lawful  moderation  or  lawless 
energy,  with  measured  demand  or  blind  fury,  with  Christian 
zeal  or  pagan  hate  as  the  case  may  be.  Not  more  impressive 
in  their  grandeur  nor  more  determined  in  their  action  are 
the  cosmic  forces  that  have  lifted  continents  from  beneath 
the  waters  and  have  driven  the  very  oceans  from  their  strong- 
holds than  are  the  emotional  forces  of  the  passion  for  justice 
when  it  is  once  aroused.  They  have  overturned  dynasties 
which  had  seemed  destined  to  wield  power  as  long  as  life 
endures.  They  have  wrenched  institutions  to  destruction 


56  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHAKITY 

in  order  to  make  room  for  wider  concepts  of  personality,  to 
rearrange  human  relations  and  enable  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren to  live,  to  grow,  to  express  themselves,  to  choose  their 
ways  and  be  secure  in  control  of  things  and  relations  that 
are  essential  to  life. 

The  sanctity  of  justice  is  independent  of  the  mistakes  of 
its  passionate  expression.  Not  all  of  the  horrors  of  revo- 
lution, nor  the  blood  that  has  been  shed,  nor  the  price  that 
has  been  paid  for  the  human  rights  that  have  been  gained 
can  affect  the  essential  role  that  the  sense  of  justice  must  play 
in  all  organized  social  life.  The  strong  must  love  and  respect 
justice.  The  weak  must  seek  it.  They  in  whose  hands 
power  has  been  placed  must  gain  the  high  vision  of  justice 
as  the  herald  of  God  and  their  ideals  must  hold  them  pledged 
to  work  toward  it  and  secure  it  for  the  children  of  men. 

Justice  is  defeated  among  the  poor.  Men,  women  and 
children  in  numbers  that  shame  us  sit  in  the  shadows,  dumb, 
defeated,  aimless.  Their  wrongs  impress  them  merely  as 
experiences  since  all  guarantees  and  understanding  of  rights 
and  of  the  glory  of  life  are  denied  to  many  among  them. 
No  traces  of  the  sanctity  of  personality  are  found  in  the 
methods  and  views  of  those  who  oppress  or  cheat  the  poor. 
Justice  nods  in  convenient  oblivion  when  little  children  pass 
the  doors  of  the  school  to  enter  the  factory.  Human  rights 
seem  shorn  of  all  respect  when  industry  holds  life  more 
cheaply  than  profits,  and  industrial  power  absolves  itself 
from  the  restraints  of  Christian  faith  and  sympathy  in  not 
caring  about  the  helplessness  of  those  who  have  lost  in  the 
competitive  struggle.  The  injustice  that  is  associated  with 
poverty  comes  by  the  action  of  individuals  who  oppress  and 
defraud  them;  from  conditions  against  which  they  are  help- 
less; from  social  philosophy  which  lulls  the  conscience  of 
the  strong  into  indifference  to  the  plight  of  the  weak ;  from  in- 
effective or  delayed  legislation  which  should  control  social 
processes,  regulate  conditions  and  protect  opportunity;  from 
indifference  to  the  valuations  of  the  Christian  life.  In  as 
far  as  poverty  represents  injustice  and  not  inevitable  limita- 


JUSTICE  57 

tions  of  human  nature  and  social  institutions,  it  can  be  dealt 
with  only  by  developing  knowledge  of  facts,  by  tracing  re- 
sponsibility for  them  and  formulating  effective  definitions  of 
rights  which  will  protect  the  weak  at  their  points  of  danger. 
Not  all  poverty  represents  social  injustice.  It  would  be 
false  to  facts  and  misleading  to  the  highest  degree  were  we 
to  overlook  the  phases  of  poverty  due  to  the  fault  of  the 
poor,  to  sin  among  them,  to  deliberate  neglect  of  opportunity 
and  defiance  of  personal  ideals.  It  would  be  mistaken  kind- 
ness to  deal  with  the  poor  as  though  they  lacked  will  and 
could  commit  no  wrong.  The  aspects  of  poverty  which  do 
not  represent  clearly  indicated  social  justice  may,  therefore, 
be  dismissed  from  consideration  now,  important  as  they  are. 

Individual  Conscience. 

The  prevailing  moral  code  of  a  time  ascribes  to  the  individual 
whether  he  be  strong  or  weak  a  more  or  less  fixed  range 
of  rights  and  obligations.  This  code  rests  in  Christian  civili- 
zation on  the  divine  teaching  about  human  personality, 
human  destiny  and  social  relations.  The  teaching  is  inter- 
preted in  the  light  of  experience  and  practical  application  of 
principles.  The  Catholic  recognizes  the  Church  as  inter- 
preter and  judge  of  the  essentials  of  the  Christian  code  of 
rights  and  obligations.  Our  practical  views  of  one  another, 
of  the  rights  which  we  must  respect  and  duties  that  we  must 
perform  depend  on  intelligent  training,  good  will  and 
spiritual  sanction.  The  safety  of  one  lies  in  the  conscience  of 
many.  Only  as  men  and  women  respect  in  their  hearts  the 
rights  of  others  with  whom  they  have  dealings,  may  we 
hope  for  any  justice  whatsoever.  The  corner  stone  of  the 
temple  of  Justice  is  the  human  heart,  shaped  by  the  hand 
of  God  and  by  the  agents  of  His  law. 

When  men  are  equals  and  confederates  these  relations  are 
reflected  in  the  rights  that  are  declared  and  the  respect  that 
they  inspire.  When  men  are  unequals  and  competitors, 
found  in  separated  groups  and  lacking  understanding,  sym- 


58  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

pathy  and  active  good  will,  arbitrary  codes  of  rights  that 
reflect  partial  views  of  life  appear  and  claim  the  sanction  of 
the  ideals  of  justice.  The  first  view  of  poverty  as  a  phase 
of  injustice  is  that  in  which  the  strong  are  misled  by  mis- 
taken social  philosophy,  partial  views  of  social  relations  and 
values  and  are  governed  by  these  views  in  dealing  with  the 
weak.  Error  concerning  human  rights,  and  wrong-doing  in 
defiance  of  even  recognized  rights  as  both  are  found  among 
the  strong  are  factors  in  poverty.  The  remedy  demanded 
is  conversion  of  heart,  correction  of  views,  stern  self-disci- 
pline that  holds  the  strong  true  to  personal  ideals.  The  cul- 
ture forces  that  shape  character,  home,  school,  Church,  find 
a  fundamental  task  here.  The  accepted  moral  code  of  a 
time  indicates  the  moral  interpretation  of  life  and  its  rela- 
tions. The  morals  of  a  time  show  how  far  this  code  is 
respected  and  individual  conscience  operates  in  serving 
justice. 

These  principles  have  bearings  in  two  directions.  They  hold 
the  weak  to  respect  the  natural  and  acquired  rights  of  the 
strong.  They  require  honest  service  for  wages  paid,  loyalty  to 
duties  founded  in  natural  and  divine  law.  Our  study  does  not, 
however,  lead  us  in  this  direction.  We  are  concerned  mainly 
in  searching  for  aspects  of  injustice  in  poverty.  One  of  these 
is  failure  of  individual  moral  intelligence  in  the  strong  to 
gain  true  understanding  of  human  rights  and  duties;  the 
failure  of  individual  conscience  to  respect  human  rights  as 
understood.  The  individual  is  no  longer  a  mere  individual. 
In  our  social  organization  the  strong  are  trebly  strong  through 
property  and  industrial  power;  the  weak  are  trebly  weak 
through  conditions,  social  isolation  and  competition.  Men 
of  power  who  exercise  control  over  many  lives,  many 
thousands  of  lives  and  bring  no  socialized  conscience  to  the 
task  which  fits  them  for  their  stewardship,  contribute  greatly 
to  the  injustice  of  poverty.  Such  may  be  and  usually  are 
conscientious  as  individuals  but  vision  has  not  followed  power 
and  conscience  has  not  controlled  it. 

This  process  continues  unhindered  when  the  organization 


JUSTICE  59 

of  life  and  industry,  of  finance  and  management  separates 
strong  from  all  personal  contact  with  weak,  insulates  the 
profit  motive  in  industry  in  its  full  raw  strength  and  disas- 
sociates it  from  all  relation  to  a  whole  view  of  life,  a  bal- 
anced moral  judgment  of  values  that  holds  all  men  in  bonds 
of  reassuring  Christian  sympathy.  The  conditions  that  have 
arisen  represent  a  mixture  of  erring  social  philosophy  that 
survives  from  an  earlier  day  to  which  it  was  perhaps  fitted, 
lack  of  will  to  revise  standards  to  meet  conditions  and  the 
ascendancy  of  partial  interests  and  warped  ideals  among  the 
strong.  It  follows  that  true  social  philosophy,  new  standards 
of  justice,  stern  good  will  are  elementary  demands  in  our  en- 
deavor to  cope  with  the  elements  of  injustice  in  poverty. 
Conversion  of  heart,  compelling  appeal  by  spiritual  and  cul- 
tural forces,  the  arousing  of  a  socialized  conscience  in  the 
strong  constitute  the  only  wholesome  beginning  possible  in 
our  work. 

It  would  be  vain  to  overlook  the  magnitude  of  the  task. 
Even  when  many  bring  good  will  and  intelligence  to  it  they 
find  themselves  in  the  unyielding  grasp  of  national  industrial 
organization  that  leaves  them  only  a  precarious  liberty  to 
follow  a  higher  conscience.  But  no  difficulties  can  change 
the  nature  of  things  or  dispense  with  this  first  step  in  the 
orderly  struggle  for  justice  which  awaits  us.  Social  valua- 
tions that  give  to  wealth  an  enhanced  worth,  and  dimmed 
social  imagination  that  prevents  the  most  obvious  facts  in 
poverty  from  being  seen  at  all,  slow  down  the  process  of 
securing  justice  in  a  most  discouraging  way.  Personal 
error,  personal  fault,  wrong-doing  among  the  weak,  together 
with  personal  error,  personal  fault  and  wrong-doing  among 
the  strong  will  yield  to  intelligence  and  conscience  and  to 
these  alone.  Much  can  be  done  at  these  points.  Much  must 
be  done.  But  when  the  most  has  been  done,  so  much  remains 
to  invite  our  solicitude  and  disturb  our  social  peace  that 
we  must  look  far  beyond  individual  conscience  and  individual 
reform.  We  are  led  thus  to  the  functions  of  the  social  con- 
science in  dealing  with  the  injustice  of  poverty. 


60  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

Social  Conscience. 

Lack  of  terms  leads  toward  confusion  here.  It  were  bet- 
ter perhaps  to  speak  of  the  socialized  conscience  instead  of 
the  social  conscience.  Conscience  is  practical  judgment  of 
right  and  wrong  in  particular  instances.  It  is  necessarily 
individual.  But  the  range  of  information,  the  quality  of 
ideals  and  the  sense  of  moral  responsibility  that  issue  jointly 
in  our  practical  moral  judgments  introduce  the  greatest 
variety  into  behavior.  One  who  has  an  intensely  individu- 
alistic conscience,  lacks  social  imagination  and  is  ignorant 
of  the  complex  processes  of  life,  will  combine  a  good  con- 
science with  very  bad  judgment  and  cause  much  harm.  Now 
when  such  an  individualist  gains  insight  into  social  relations 
and  develops  his  sense  of  social  responsibility  and  becomes 
conscious  of  a  general  obligation  toward  the  community,  par- 
ticularly toward  its  helpless  elements,  his  conscience  will  be 
socialized.  He  will  see  many  things  to  which  he  had  been 
blind  before.  The  large  number  of  individualistic  con- 
sciences that  survive  in  every  social  circle  from  an  earlier 
day  creates  the  most  serious  problem  in  social  welfare  that 
confronts  us.  The  process  of  socializing  those  consciences 
consists  in  giving  them  insight  into  social  processes,  actual 
knowledge  of  conditions,  awakening  a  sense  of  moral  respon- 
sibility for  both  processes  and  conditions,  correcting  their 
outlook  on  life  and  leading  them  to  form  new  judgments 
concerning  duty  toward  the  community  and  the  weaker 
classes. 

The  socialized  conscience  is  in  itself  not  new.  The  tradi- 
tions of  the  moral  teaching  of  the  Church  give  fundamental 
emphasis  to  social  duties,  duties  connected  with  power  and 
office  in  social  life.  Since  we  can  have  broad  or  narrow 
judgments,  limited  or  abundant  information,  mistaken  or 
corrected  interpretations  of  social  relations  even  this  teaching 
may  fail  to  bring  conscience  up  to  our  problems.  And  this 
has  occurred.  We  are  gaining  in  these  days  new  insight  into 
social  relations.  We  see  the  social  elements  in  the  fate  of 


JUSTICE  61 

the  individual  more  keenly  than  ever  before.  We  are  re- 
stating the  ideals  of  individual  life  in  wider  terms.  The 
collective  sense  of  society  is  engaged  in  formulating  a  larger 
catalogue  of  human  rights  intended  to  protect  men,  women 
and  children  against  danger  from  social  arrangements.  In 
proportion  as  this  code  of  rights  is  clarified  and  accepted  a 
new  public  opinion  arises.  It  affects  religious  and  academic 
teaching,  employers  and  public  leaders  of  every  kind.  A 
social  pressure  is  exerted  on  individual  conscience  and  con- 
science is  socialized  in  the  sense  explained. 

Dangers  threaten  us  before  we  are  born.  They  face  us 
at  and  after  birth,  during  childhood  and  adolescence.  These 
dangers  relate  to  health,  education,  morals  and  social  effi- 
ciency. Social  conditions  destroy  homes,  convert  labor  into 
an  instrument  of  disease  and  death  at  times,  disrupt  the  fam- 
ily and  harden  the  hearts  of  the  strong. 

Conditions  of  dependence  in  industry  place  the  weaker 
classes  at  the  mercy  of  industrial  processes  conducted  for 
profit;  conducted  without  sympathy  or  real  understanding. 
We  have  gained  knowledge  and  insight  into  the  facts  of 
poverty  and  the  meaning  of  them,  that  show  how  body,  mind 
and  soul  are  endangered  for  time  and  eternity.  Rights  to 
health,  to  education,  to  normal  protection,  to  play,  to  a  start 
in  life  free  from  undue  handicap,  rights  of  children  to  normal 
home  life,  to  leisure  for  finer  joys  are  coming  to  long  delayed 
recognition  in  the  modern  social  conscience  and  reacting  on 
human  society  in  a  way  rich  in  promise  as  it  is  already 
honorable  in  achievement.  The  pressure  of  this  socialized 
conscience  is  witnessed  in  a  hundred  voluntary  movements  of 
reform,  in  welfare  work,  in  improved  methods  and  standards 
of  organizations  which  act  as  attorneys  for  the  poor  before 
modern  society.  These  rights  throng  the  pages  of  our  newer 
literature,  inspire  leaders,  direct  teachers,  create  an  atmos- 
phere in  which  individual  consciences  thrive  in  unwonted 
vigor.  Their  most  striking  effect  is  seen  in  the  changed  con- 
ception of  the  function  of  the  State  and  policies  of  new  leg- 
islation which  are  now  witnessed  everywhere.  The  most 


62  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

clearly  established  rights  set  forth  in  the  socialized  conscience 
gradually  attain  to  final  form  in  legislation  and  take  their 
place  in  the  political  conscience  of  society  with  the  sanction 
of  sovereign  power  to  support  them.  This  conscience  oper- 
ates in  two  directions.  It  inspires  and  directs  individual 
conscience  to  recognize  and  respect  human  rights  from  high 
motives  of  duty  and  at  whatsoever  cost.  On  the  other  hand 
it  recasts  definitions  and  sanctions  of  human  rights  in  the 
law  and  engages  the  full  resources  of  the  State  in  defense  of 
justice  as  it  is  defined. 

Political  Conscience. 

The  State  is  the  organized  sovereign  will  of  society.  It 
is  the  mainstay  of  the  social  order  in  that  it  alone  has  control 
of  the  supreme  coercive  sanctions  in  life.  It  alone  may  force 
obedience  to  law  by  taking  away  life,  liberty  or  property 
by  execution,  imprisonment  and  fine.  It  is  the  vicegerent 
of  God  and  its  authority  when  properly  exercised  indicates 
the  effective  will  of  God  in  social  relations.  The  State  is 
the  servant  of  justice.  It  exists  and  acts  in  order  that  the 
individual  may  live  in  peace  and  be  secure  in  the  gradual 
unfolding  of  his  powers  as  he  seeks  his  final  destiny  in  God. 
Although  this  is  the  exalted  mission  of  the  State,  it  has  at 
times  in  its  actual  exercise  of  government  become  recreant 
to  its  duty  and  has  stood  in  the  way  of  justice  instead  of 
promoting  its  interests.  The  history  of  human  liberty,  the 
story  of  the  development  of  free  institutions  is  due  to  the 
determination  of  men  to  be  free,  to  be  secure,  to  have  oppor- 
tunity to  grow,  to  express  themselves  and  choose  their  ways. 
They  have  shrunk  from  no  effort,  recoiled  from  no  extreme, 
hesitated  at  no  cost  whenever  government  seemed  to  ob- 
struct justice  as  it  was  conceived  and  to  interfere  with 
personal  rights  whose  enjoyment  was  taken  to  be  essential. 
The  modern  State,  democratic  in  spirit  and  form,  is  found 
as  a  result  to  be  hemmed  in  by  a  constitution  and  they  who 
administer  it  are  held  in  various  ways,  subject  to  those  whom 
they  govern. 


JUSTICE  63 

The  State  does  not  and  cannot  protect  all  human  rights. 
It  protects  them  only  in  as  far  as  it  defines  them.  All  arbi- 
trary action  on  its  part  is  prevented  by  requiring  the  warrant 
of  a  law  for  everything  that  it  does.  Hence  the  vision  of 
justice  that  guides  the  State  is  limited  to  the  rights  of  sub- 
jects already  enacted  and  provided  for.  This  restraint  on 
the  State  offers  safety  from  historical  abuses  due  to  arbitrary 
exercise  of  power.  But  it  operates  to  the  harm  of  justice 
when  the  definitions  of  human  rights  prove  inadequate  to 
present  dangers  of  the  weaker  social  classes  and  effective 
obstacles  either  arrest  all  attempts  to  remedy  conditions  or 
slow  down  action  into  tedious  delay. 

The  political  rights  of  man  traditionally  defined  and  guar- 
anteed are  quite  inadequate  to  the  present  dangers  of  the 
weaker  classes.  Magna  Charta,  the  rights  of  man  enunciated 
in  typical  revolutions,  the  bills  of  rights  underlying  our 
State  constitutions  beginning  with  that  of  Virginia,  the  first 
of  them,  indicate  like  abuses,  like  protests,  like  aspirations. 
Equality  before  the  law  was  demanded  because  inequality 
beyond  the  law  had  led  to  abuses  that  baffled  the  passion  for 
justice.  Freedom  of  worship  and  of  conscience,  of  speech, 
press  and  assembly;  the  acquisition  and  possession  of  prop- 
erty; security  in  person,  house,  papers  and  possessions;  un- 
trammeled  access  to  courts  with  speedy  trial;  the  right  to 
confront  accusing  witnesses  and  to  compel  the  appearance 
of  favorable  witnesses ;  safety  against  imprisonment  for  debt ; 
security  against  bills  of  attainder  and  corruption  of  blood; 
the  pursuit  and  attaining  of  safety  and  happiness  are  fun- 
damental political  rights  written  into  political  constitutions 
and  laws  that  both  limit  and  compel  the  modern  State  in 
dealing  with  the  individual. 

These  defined  rights  of  the  individual  limit  the  State  be- 
cause in  the  words  of  the  Alabama  constitution  "These  rights 
are  excepted  out  of  the  general  powers  of  government  and 
remain  forever  inviolate."  They  compel  modern  govern- 
ments because  these  must  protect  each  citizen  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  rights  named  when  that  enjoyment  is  endangered. 


64  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

Every  one  of  these  rights  is  the  outcome  of  protests  against 
historical  experience.  These  protests  were  due  to  the  pas- 
sion for  personal  liberty,  for  self-expression,  for  larger  life 
and  freer  action.  That  passion  has  led  to  unrest,  to  war, 
and  revolution  and  to  death.  It  has  made  mistakes  as  hor- 
rible in  their  consequences  as  in  their  content.  There  is  no 
form  of  cruelty,  injustice,  error  or  inhumanity  to  which  the 
passion  for  liberty  has  not  been  misled.  But  when  the  storv 
is  read  in  its  completeness  we  do  find  that  the  modern  lib- 
erties which  are  so  highly  prized  and  the  exalted  estimate 
which  democracy  places  upon  the  individual  are  the  harvest 
of  the  passion  for  justice.  And  every  precious  element  in 
that  passion  as  a  spiritual  force  is  found  in  the  Gospel  of 
our  Lord. 

Even  if  life  were  stationary  the  State  would  on  account  of 
human  limitations  fail  often  to  realize  the  justice  which  it 
defines,  fail  to  guarantee  human  rights  whose  protection  is 
its  supreme  aim.  Special  interests  may  gain  the  ascendancy 
and  prevent  its  disinterested  service  of  justice.  The  facts  of 
inequality  beyond  the  law  may  easily  neutralize  the  value 
of  equality  before  the  law.  The  unhindered  play  of  social 
forces  will  bring  about  conditions  of  fact  as  for  instance  in 
the  distribution  of  property  which  make  political  rights 
nugatory.  The  difficulty  of  applying  laws  to  conditions,  con- 
tests of  skill  in  the  courts,  the  discouraging  cost  of  search 
for  justice  are  factors  which  discount  greatly  the  promises 
of  justice  which  we  receive  from  the  State.  But  in  addition 
to  these  defeats  of  justice  we  find  the  conditions  of  life  lead- 
ing to  others  which  are  of  the  greatest  concern.  Life  moves 
rapidly,  social  relations  become  infinitely  complex,  while  in- 
stitutions and  definitions  remain  relatively  rigid.  The 
weaker  social  classes  are  constantly  exposed  to  new  dangers 
which  invite  new  definitions  where  individual  and  social 
conscience  fail  to  afford  protection. 

Thought  is  always  in  advance  of  institutions.  Funda- 
mental views  of  human  rights  and  relations  as  framed  in 
social  philosophy  carry  aspiration  far  in  advance  of  achieve- 


JUSTICE  65 

ment.  A  sensitive  individual  conscience  accompanied  by 
balanced  judgment  and  a  correct  sense  of  values  will  do  full 
justice  to  the  weak  in  ready  recognition  of  every  claim  of  the 
latter  to  sympathy  and  humane  treatment.  A  larger  num- 
ber will  readily  do  justice  to  the  weak  under  the  guidance 
of  a  clearly  formulated  social  conscience  which  assembles 
and  respects  rights  needed  to  protect  the  weak  at  their  points 
of  danger.  But  in  last  analysis  we  have  need  of  the  exact- 
ness of  definition  and  force  of  coercion  through  law  to  put 
the  pressure  of  the  State  upon  the  stronger  classes  who  be- 
lieve that  legal  justice  is  full  justice  and  that  conscience 
is  freed  when  the  coercions  of  law  are  satisfied.  The  fullest 
and  freest  service  of  justice  is  found  in  the  social  conscience. 

The  process  in  question  is  accomplished  mainly  by  widen- 
ing definitions  rather  than  by  changing  principles.  The 
larger  definition  is  merely  a  new  adaptation  of  an  old  prin- 
ciple to  new  conditions.  When  the  right  to  life  is  set  down 
as  fundamental  in  moral,  social  and  legal  relations,  it  means 
primarily  protection  against  physical  violence  and  gross  neg- 
lect that  may  lead  to  death.  But  in  present  social  and  in- 
dustrial conditions  the  right  to  life  must  be  made  to  include 
by  definition  the  right  to  fullest  protection  against  industrial 
accidents  and  occupational  diseases.  It  must  include  con- 
trol of  conditions  which  carry  specific  menace  to  health  and 
life  against  which  the  weak  are  helpless.  Social  thought 
has  arrived  at  an  estimate  of  the  nature  and  degree  of  social 
dangers  to  the  weaker  individuals.  It  has  amassed  infor- 
mation, analyzed  processes  and  reached  conclusions  which 
gradually  issue  in  a  series  of  newly  conceived  personal  rights 
which  convey  the  new  vision  of  social  justice.  These  rights 
relate  to  all  phases  of  human  inequality  as  aspects  of  justice, 
to  the  meaning  of  the  competitive  struggle  and  resulting  social 
conditions  and  to  a  fair  chance  in  starting  life,  to  the  relation 
of  cultural  forces  to  personal  development,  moral  security 
and  personal  independence  and  to  a  new  view  of  the  relation 
of  the  State  to  the  problems  of  strength  and  weakness  in 
society. 


66  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

The  State  has  under  its  present  powers  absorbed  into  its 
laws  many  of  the  rights  urged  upon  society  by  the  social 
conscience.  But  ineffective  administration  has  defeated  the 
ends  of  justice  only  too  often.  It  has  attempted  further 
protection  by  enactment  of  laws  which  courts  have  found 
unconstitutional.  Constitutions  have  been  amended  in  order 
to  enable  the  State  to  meet  its  new  tasks  and  provide  pro- 
tection for  the  weak. 

No  adequate  view  of  modern  poverty  may  fail  to  see  in 
it  a  defeat  of  justice.  If  the  human  person  possess  a  sanc- 
tity whose  protection  is  the  object  of  laws,  that  sanctity  in- 
volves a  reasonable  share  of  justice,  an  effective  code  of  per- 
sonal rights  by  means  of  which  normal  life,  growth, 
opportunity,  happiness  and  security  are  brought  within 
reach  to  constantly  increasing  numbers.  Justice  demands 
such  institutions,  such  control  of  social  conditions  and  proc- 
esses, such  modifications  of  strength  and  restraint  on  self- 
ishness, such  guarantees  to  the  individual  as  will  take  from 
life  its  social  terrors  and  insecurity  and  create  such  condi- 
tions as  will  secure  to  good  will  and  individual  merit  encour- 
aging compensations. 

Every  one  has  duties  toward  justice.  Injustice  is  a  dan- 
ger to  society  and  thereby  to  every  member  of  it.  The  strong 
man  without  a  conscience  threatens  every  one  with  whom  he 
comes  into  contact.  Love  of  justice  and  hatred  of  iniquity 
are  vital  to  institutions  as  they  are  to  personal  character. 
The  laboring  men  whose  collective  activities  in  self-defense 
are  directed  by  the  simple  slogan  "An  offense  against  one  is 
the  concern  of  all,"  utter  one  of  the  most  profound  moral, 
social  and  spiritual  truths  that  inspire  men  to  unselfish  action. 
Poverty  is  thus  our  common  concern  be  we  rich  or  poor, 
employer  or  laborer,  Churchman  or  statesman,  strong  or 
weak.  Much  of  it  is  caused  by  direct  injustice.  Much  is 
made  possible  by  general  indifference  to  justice  as  a  social 
interest.  Much  of  it  is  due  to  the  fact  that  mistaken  social 
philosophy,  false  social  valuations  of  wealth  and  power, 
have  made  the  definitions  of  justice  matters  of  bitter  social 


JUSTICE  67 

controversy  and  the  dust  of  battle  has  clouded  the  vision  that 
should  inspire  our  nobler  selves. 

The  following  standards  serving  as  an  approach  toward 
Social  Justice  were  adopted  at  the  meeting  of  the  National 
Conference  of  Social  Work  in  Cleveland  in  1912.  The 
report  is  introduced  here  to  show  how  far  below  minimum 
standards  we  still  are,  and  to  make  appeal  for  wider  personal 
interest  in  the  process  that  clarifies  social  thinking  and  re- 
moves barriers  to  moral  progress.  In  order  that  readers  may 
have  no  occasion  to  overlook  the  text,  it  is  introduced  here 
and  not  as  an  appendix  which  might  escape  attention. 

The  welfare  of  society  and  the  prosperity  of  the  state  require 
for  each  individual  such  food,  clothing,  housing  conditions,  and 
other  necessaries  and  comforts  of  life  as  will  secure  and  maintain 
physical,  mental  and  moral  health.  These  are  essential  elements  in 
a  normal  standard  of  living,  below  which  society  cannot  allow 
any  of  its  members  to  live  without  injuring  the  public  welfare. 
An  increasing  percentage  of  our  population  derives  the  means  to 
maintain  this  normal  standard  through  industry.  Industry,  there- 
fore must  submit  to  such  public  regulation  as  will  make  it  a 
means  of  life  and  health,  not  of  death  or  inefficiency. 

This  regulation  has  to  do  with  hours,  safety,  overstrain,  and 
other  conditions  of  the  day's  labor;  with  premature  employment, 
unemployment,  incapacity,  and  other  factors  which  shorten  or 
impair  the  length  of  the  working  life;  with  wages  as  the  basis 
which  work  affords  for  a  normal  standard  of  home  life;  with 
unwise  taxation  and  other  community  conditions  which  in  our 
industrial  centers  exploit  wages;  with  insurance  against  those 
risks  of  trade — death,  injury,  occupational  disease — which  break 
in  upon  the  working  years  and  wipe  out  earnings :  and  with  pro- 
tection against  poverty  in  old  age  when  productive  labor  is  ended. 

The  community  has  a  right  to  complete  knowledge  of  the  facts 
of  work. 

The  community  can  cause  to  be  formulated  minimum  occupa- 
tional standards  below  which  work  is  carried  on  only  at  a  human 
deficit. 

The  community  should  bring  such  subnormal  industrial  conditions 
within  the  scope  of  governmental  action  and  control,  in  the  same  way 
as  subnormal  sanitary  conditions  are  subject  to  public  regulation, 
and  for  the  same  reason — because  they  threaten  general  welfare. 

Such  minimum  standards  in  relation  to  Wages,  Hours,  Housing, 


68  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

Safety  and  Health,  Term  of  Working  Life,  and  Workmen's  Com- 
pensation are  called  for  if  the  United  States  is  to  keep  abreast 
with  the  social  statesmanship  of  other  great  industrial  nations; 
they  are  counseled  by  physicians  and  neurologists  who  have 
studied  the  effect  of  fatigue  and  overstrain  upon  health;  by  econ- 
omists who  have  analyzed  the  extravagance  of  unskilled  labor,  ex- 
cessive hours,  and  low  pay;  and  by  social  workers  who  deal  with 
the  human  wastes  of  industry  through  relief  societies,  or  through 
orphanages,  hospitals,  insane  asylums,  and  almshouses. 

Wherever  they  are  not  the  standards  of  given  establishments  or 
given  industries;  are  unprovided  for  by  legislatures,  or  are  balked 
by  unenlightened  courts,  the  community  pays  a  heavy  cost  in 
lessened  efficiency,  and  in  misery.  Where  they  are  sanctioned  and 
enforced,  the  conservation  of  our  human  resources  contributes  the 
most  substantial  asset  to  the  wealth  of  the  future. 

I.    WAGES 

1.  A  Living  Wage.    A  living  wage  for  all  who  devote  their 
time  and  energy  to  industrial  occupations.     The  monetary  equiva- 
lent of  a  living  wage  varies  according  to  local  conditions,  but 
must  include  enough  to  secure  the  elements  of  a  normal  standard 
of  living;  to  provide  for  education  and  recreation;  to  care  for 
immature  members  of  the  family;  to  maintain  the  family  during 
the  periods  of  sickness;  and  to  permit  of  reasonable  saving  for 
old  age. 

2.  Minimum    Wage    Commissions.    Many    industrial    occupa- 
tions, especially  where  women,  children,  and  immigrant  men  are 
employed,  do  not  pay  wages  adequate  to  maintain  a  normal  stand- 
ard of  living.    Minimum  wage  commissions  should  therefore  be 
established  in  each  state  to  inquire  into  wages  paid  in  various 
industries,  and  to  determine  the  standard  which  the  public  will 
sanction  as  the  minimum. 

3.  Wage  Publicity.    Properly  constituted  authorities  should  be 
empowered  to  require  all  employers  to  file  with  them  for  public 
purposes  such  wage  scales,  and  other  data  as  to  earnings  as  the 
public  element  in  industry  demands.    The  movement  for  honest 
weights  and  measures  has  its  counterpart  in  industry.    All  tallies, 
scales,  and  check  systems  should  be  open  to  public  inspection  and 
inspection  of  committees  of  the  workers  concerned.    Changes  in 
wage  rates,  systems  of  dockage,  bonuses,  and  all  other  modifica- 
tions of  the  wage  contract  should  be  posted,  and  wages  should  be 
paid  in  cash  at  least  every  two  weeks. 


JUSTICE  69 

n.    HOURS 

1.  Eight-Hour  Day.    The  establishment  of  the  eight-hour  day 
for  all  men  employed  in  continuous  industries,  and  as  a  maximum 
for  women  and  minors  in  all  industries. 

2.  Six-Day  Week.    The  work  period  limited  to  six  days  in 
each  week ;  and  a  period  of  rest  of  forty  consecutive  hours  in  each 
week. 

3.  Night  work.    Night  work  for  minors  entirely  prohibited; 
an  uninterrupted  period  of  at  least  eight  hours  night  rest  for  all 
women;  and  night  work  for  men  minimized  wherever  possible. 

III.    SAFETY  AND  HEALTH 

1.  Investigation.    An   investigation   by   the   Federal    Govern- 
ment of  all  industries,  on  the  plan  pursued  in  the  present  investi- 
gation of  mining,  with  a  view  to  establishing  standards  of  sanita- 
tion and  safety  and  a  basis  for  compensation  for  injury.     This 
should  include  a  scientific  study  and   report  upon  fire-escapes, 
safety  appliances,  sanitary  conditions,  and  the  effects  of  ventila- 
tion,   dust,    poisons,    heat,    cold,    compressed    air,    steam,    glare, 
darkness,  speed  and  noise. 

2.  Prohibition  of  Poisons.    Prohibition  of  manufacture  or  sale 
of  poisonous  articles  dangerous  to  life  of  worker,  whenever  harm- 
less substitutes  are  possible,  on  the  principle  already  established  by 
Congress  in  relation  to  poisonous  phosphorous  matches. 

3.  Regulation  According  to  Hazard.    In  trades  and  occupations 
offering  a  menace  to  life,  limb,   or  health,  the  employment  of 
women  and  minors  regulated  according  to  the  degree  of  hazard. 
No  minor  under  18  employed  in  any  dangerous  occupation,  or  in 
occupations  which  involve  danger  to  fellow  workmen  or  require 
use  of  explosives,  poisonous  gases  or  other  injurious  ingredients. 
Unskilled  craftsmen  who  do  not  read  and  understand  the  English 
language  forbidden  to  handle  dangerous  machinery  or  processes 
known  to  be  extra-hazardous. 

4.  Standardized  Inspection.     Inspection  of  mines   and  work 
places  standardized  either  by  interstate  agreement  or  by  estab- 
lishment of  a  Government  standard.     All  deaths,  injuries,  and 
diseases   due  to   industrial  operations   to   be  reported  to  public 
authorities  as  required  in  accident  laws  of  Minnesota,  and  with 
respect  to  some  trade  diseases  in  New  York. 

IV.    HOUSING 

1.    The  Eight  to  a  Home.    Social  welfare  demands  for  every 
family  a  safe  and  sanitary  home;  healthful  surroundings;  ample 


70  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

and  pure  running  water  inside  the  house;  modern  and  sanitary 
toilet  conveniences  for  its  exclusive  use,  located  inside  the  build- 
ing ;  adequate  sunlight  and  ventilation ;  reasonable  fire  protection ; 
privacy;  rooms  of  sufficient  size  and  number  to  decently  house 
the  members  of  the  family;  freedom  from  dampness;  prompt, 
adequate  collection  of  all  waste  materials.  These  fundamental 
requirements  for  normal  living  should  be  obtainable  by  every 
family,  reasonably  accessible  from  place  of  employment,  at  a 
rental  not  to  exceed  20  per  cent  of  the  family  income. 

2.  Taxes.    To  protect  wage  earners  from  exorbitant  rents  and 
to  secure  for  them  that  increased  municipal  service  demanded  by 
the  massing  together  of  people  in  thickly  settled  industrial  com- 
munities, a  greater  share  of  taxes  to  be  transferred  from  dwellings 
to  land  held  for  speculative  purposes  the  value  of  which  is  enhanced 
by  the  very  congestion  of  these  industrial  populations. 

3.  Home  Work.    Factory  production  to  be  carried  on  in  fac- 
tories.   Whenever  work  is  given  out  to  homes,  abuses  are  sure  to 
creep  in  which  cannot  be  controlled  by  any  known  system  of 
inspection  or  supervision. 

4.  Tenement  Manufacture.    Tenement  house  manufacture  is 
known  to  be  a  serious  menace  to  the  health,  education,  and  eco- 
nomic independence  of  thousands  of  people  in  large  cities.     It 
subjects  children  to  injurious  industrial  burdens  and  cannot  be 
successfully  regulated  by  inspection  or  other  official  supervision. 
Public  welfare,  therefore,  demands  for  city  tenements  the  entire 
prohibition  of  manufacture  of   articles   of  commerce  in   rooms 
occupied  for  dwelling  purposes. 

5.  Labor  Colonies.    In  temporary  construction  camps  and  labor 
colonies,  definite  standards  to  provide  against  overcrowding,  and 
for  ventilation,  water  supply,  sanitation,  to  be  written  into  the 
contract  specifications,  as  now  provided  in  the  New  York  law. 

V.    TERM  OP  WORKING  LIFE 

Society  may  reasonably  demand  from  every  normal  individual 
his  self -support  during  a  certain  period  of  life.  This  period  should 
be  bounded  by  a  minimum  age,  to  protect  against  premature  labor, 
and  a  maximum  age  beyond  which  the  wage  earner  should  find 
himself  economically  independent  of  daily  labor.  Adoption  of 
the  following  standards  will  promote  this  end. 

1.  Employment  of  Children.    Prohibition  of  all  wage-earning 
occupation  for  children  under  16  years  of  age. 

2.  Employment   of   Women.    Prohibition   of   employment    of 
women  in  manufacturing,  commerce,  or  other  trades  where  work 


JUSTICE  n 

compels  standing  constantly.    Also  prohibition  for  a  period  of  at 
least  eight  weeks  at  time  of  childbirth. 

3.  Intermittent  Employment.    Any  industrial  occupation  sub- 
ject to  rush  periods  and  out  of  work  seasons  to  be  considered 
abnormal,    and    subject    to    Government    review    and    regulation. 
Official  investigation  of  such  intermittent  employment  and  other 
forms    of   unemployment    as    a   basis    for   better    distribution    of 
immigrants,  for  guiding  seasonal  laborers  from  trade  to  trade,  and 
other  methods  for  lessening  these  evils. 

4.  The   Unemployable.    The  restrictions   upon  employers   set 
forth  in  this  platform  will  lead  them  to  refuse  to  engage  any  who 
fall  below  a  grade  of  industrial  efficiency  which  renders  their  work 
profitable.     An   increased   army   of   industrial   outcasts    will    be 
thrown  upon  society  to  be  cared  for  in  public  labor  colonies  or 
by  various  relief  agencies.    This  condition  will  in  turn  necessitate 
a  minimum  standard  of  preparation,  including  at  least  sufficient 
educational  opportunity  to  abolish  illiteracy  among  all  minors  and 
to  train  every  worker  to  some  form  of  industrial  efficiency. 

VI.    COMPENSATION  OR  INSURANCE 

Compensation  Demanded.  Both  social  and  individual  welfare 
require  some  effective  system  of  compensation  for  the  heavy  loss 
now  sustained  by  industrial  workers  as  a  result  of  unavoidable 
accidents,  industrial  diseases,  sickness,  invalidity,  involuntary  unem- 
ployment, and  old  age. 

1.  Accidents.    Equitable  standards  of  compensation  must  be 
determined  by  extensive  experience,  but  there  is  already  ample 
precedent  for  immediate  adoption  as  a  minimum  of  the  equivalent 
of  four   years'   wages   in   compensation  for   accidents   resulting 
fatally.     Compensation  for  accidents  resulting  in  permanent  dis- 
ability should  not  be  less  than  65  per  cent  of  the  annual  wage  for 
a  period  of  15  years. 

2.  Trade  Diseases.    For  diseases  clearly  caused  by  the  nature 
and   condition   of  the  industry,  the   same  compensation  as  for 
accidents. 

3.  Old  Age.    Service  pensions  or  old  age  insurance  whenever 
instituted  so  protected  that  the  person  who  withdraws  or  is  dis- 
charged from  the  employment  of  a  given  company  does  not  forfeit 
his  equity  in  the  same. 

4.  Unemployment.    Unemployment  of  able-bodied  adult  men 
under  65  years  of  age  is  abnormal  and  wasteful,  and  is  as  proper 
a  subject  for  recognition  by  the  public  authorities  as  contagious 
disease  or  other  abnormal  conditions  which  menace  the  public  well 


72  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

being.  The  demand  for  insurance  against  unemployment  increases 
with  the  increasing  specialization  in  industry.  The  development 
of  state,  municipal  and  private  agencies  to  insure  against  unem- 
ployment in  European  countries  affords  ample  information  for  the 
guidance  of  such  enterprises  in  America. 


CHAPTEE  VI 

EQUALITY 

THE  problem  of  inequality  has  always  harassed  the  human 
race.  So  long  as  the  ascendancy  of  the  strong  is  not  ques- 
tioned the  problem  remains  in  abeyance.  But  when  views 
of  the  human  person  emerge  in  collective  experience  of  men, 
and  an  ethical  or  spiritual  rating  of  persons  supplants  a  phys- 
ical or  fortuitous  estimate  of  them,  there  is  no  escape  from 
the  problem  of  inequality  and  no  surcease  of  the  aspiration 
after  a  form  of  equality  in  profession  if  not  in  fact.  Men 
had  thought  that  the  abolition  of  privileged  classes  would 
bring  peace.  They  had  dreamed  of  equality  before  the  law 
as  the  promise  of  justice.  But  the  "thwarting  facts  of  social 
inequality"  have  made  that  hope  vain  and  have  permitted 
negative  rather  than  positive  results  to  reward  the  incredible 
efforts  that  political  equality  cost  the  race.  Aspiration  for 
some  kind  of  equality  is  a  phase  of  the  passion  for  justice. 
This  aspiration  is  conditioned  on  many  homely  experiences. 
Contrast  is  one  of  them.  Men  measure  themselves  largely 
by  comparison  with  others.  The  self-estimate  that  becomes 
the  standard  of  effort  and  aim  is  largely  one  that  is  found 
in  the  minds  of  others.  It  represents  comparisons  rather 
than  original  thinking.  It  is  vain  as  well  as  untrue  to  hold 
that  aspirations  for  equality  are  the  work  of  envy  or  jealousy 
or  indiscriminate  feeling.  When  inequality  defeats  person- 
ality, forces  men,  women  and  children  into  weakness,  degra- 
dation and  dependence  in  socially  antagonistic  classes,  it  is  a 
defeat  of  justice  and  as  such  a  primary  concern  of  civili- 
zation. 

The  history  of  Democracy  is  to  a  large  extent  the  story 
of  protest  made  against  the  strong  by  the  weak  or  in  their 

73 


74  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

name.  It  was  protest  against  strength  reenforced  by  social 
institutions,  made  by  weakness  that  was  defeated  by  institu- 
tions. To-day  the  struggle  is  made  in  the  name  of  industrial 
weakness  which  is  the  sum  of  all  weakness  against  industrial 
strength  which  is  the  sum  of  all  strength.  Yesterday  it  was 
protest  against  political  privilege  and  power  by  political 
weakness  and  helplessness.  Active  aspirations  after  equal- 
ity to-day  find  their  supreme  expression  in  demand  for  an 
approach  to  industrial  equality  for  the  weaker  class  rather 
than  the  weaker  individual.  Every  modern  political  right 
that  has  been  gained  in  the  development  of  free  institutions 
stands  as  a  monument  over  the  grave  of  an  historical  tyranny 
of  the  strong  whose  mistakes  of  judgment  and  at  times  iniq- 
uity of  aim  carried  them  into  conflict  with  the  passion  for 
justice  that  slumbers  in  the  hearts  of  men.  Not  all  of  the 
hatred,  sacrilege,  murder  and  pillage  that  have  been  camp 
followers  of  the  army  of  revolution  may  be  blamed  indiscrim- 
inately upon  the  blind  passions  of  hate,  envy  and  lust  as  these 
have  acted  in  human  history.  Much  of  the  blame  for  these 
excesses  must  be  laid  upon  the  souls  of  the  strong  who  failed 
to  hold  both  judgment  and  vision  of  justice  in  reverence 
and  to  obey  them  with  impersonal  loyalty. 

Unequal  competition  for  a  living  under  an  individualistic 
state  that  freed  itself  largely  from  cultural  and  spiritual 
restraints  permitted  the  triumph  of  the  strong  and  the  rela- 
tive defeat  of  the  weak.  The  outcome  has  led  to  such  ex- 
tremes of  personal  and  class  inequality  that  a  powerful  reac- 
tion toward  equality  became  inevitable.  What  we  know  as 
industrial  democracy  to-day  is  a  positive  effort  to  remedy  in- 
dustrial inequalities  and  secure  some  kind  of  approach  to 
class  if  not  individual  equality. 

Socialism,  Bolshevism,  anarchy  are  in  last  analysis  efforts 
to  deal  with  the  problems  of  human  inequality.  Each  of 
them  starts  its  thought  and  inspires  its  efforts  by  some  theory 
of  human  equality  and  a  corresponding  aspiration  for  it. 
Equality  before  the  law  has  failed  to  control  inequality 
which  is  beyond  the  law.  Now  the  sources  of  the  social 


EQUALITY  Y5 

inequality  which  harasses  the  modern  world  are  mainly  two 
— property  and  government.  Conservative  reform  move- 
ments aim  to  modify  the  two  in  view  of  the  far-reaching 
inequalities  which  have  developed  under  free  institutions. 

The  modern  eugenic  movement  represents  another  ap- 
proach to  the  problem.  It  is  inspired  by  the  belief  that  at- 
tention to  the  laws  of  physical  heredity  will  prevent  recur- 
rence of  typical  forms  of  physical  and  mental  weakness  and 
bring  about  a  leveling  upward  of  human  powers.  The  move- 
ment has  remained  academic  and  without  general  appeal. 

Christianity  includes  a  fundamental  theory  of  equality 
which  offers  essential  truths  to  guide  us  in  every  approach 
to  the  problem  of  social  weakness  whether  in  the  name  of 
justice,  charity,  objective  truth  or  social  policy.  "For  one 
is  your  master  and  all  you  are  brethren." 

If  we  may  arrange  the  elements  of  the  teaching  of  Our 
Divine  Savior  in  keeping  with  the  study  herewith  under- 
taken, we  meet  at  the  outset  the  doctrine  of  the  infinite 
value  of  the  individual.  Each  of  us  is  a  child  of  God,  des- 
tined to  happiness  and  immortality  in  our  common  Father's 
Kingdom;  alike  in  personal  dignity  and  separate  destiny; 
called  back  to  peace  with  God  through  the  agony  of  the  re- 
demption. We  are  taught  that  reverence,  love  and  service 
should  hold  us  in  unity  and  peace.  Differences  in  power,  in 
mission  and  in  experience  may  never  blur  the  spiritual 
vision  in  whose  light  alone  we  see  truth  as  Christ  revealed 
and  exemplified  it.  Essential  equality  with  inequality  in 
accidentals,  works  toward  justice  and  peace  when  the  spirit 
of  Christ  prevails  and  spiritual  valuations  operate  as  social 
forces  and  keep  the  whole  ideal  of  life  supreme. 

Christ  saw  in  the  days  that  he  spent  among  us  in  the 
flesh,  strength  and  weakness  in  organized  array  and  sullen 
estrangement.  His  words — winged  messengers  that  carried 
redeeming  truths  over  barriers  of  race  and  time — warned  the 
strong  in  their  heresy  and  reassured  the  weak  in  their  mis- 
ery. Learning  repudiated  Him.  Power  despised  Him. 
Public  opinion  crucified  Him.  But  the  weak,  lowly,  afflicted 


76  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

and  ignorant  understood,  loved  and  followed  Him  and  their 
starved  souls  fed  on  the  Manna  of  His  words  in  the  chill 
desert  of  their  misery.  Since  His  day  the  basic  truth  in 
human  relations  is  supernatural.  Any  other  view  is  partial 
and  misleading  in  theory  and  fact  if  presented  beyond  its 
due  proportion.  Equality  in  person  and  destiny,  need  of 
spiritual  redemption,  judgment  by  God,  of  each  of  us  in  the 
light  of  His  understanding  and  grace,  reverence,  love  and 
service  as  laws  of  thought  and  action  are  truths  and  obliga- 
tions which  are  the  granite  foundations  of  life  itself.  If 
there  are  strong  who  have  insight,  power,  culture  and  wealth, 
and  weak  who  are  not  equal  to  their  tasks  or  superior  to 
their  dangers,  provision  is  made  in  Christ's  law  for  sym- 
pathy, understanding  and  reassurance  by  uniting  strong  and 
weak  in  brotherhood  and  happy  assurance.1 

The  solidarity  of  nature  holds  men  in  unity,  in  craving  for 
association  and  in  reciprocal  relations  at  every  point  of  need 
and  social  growth.  It  places  our  nobility  and  our  degrada- 
tion largely  in  the  keeping  of  others  with  whom  we  live 
and  is  the  counterpart  of  a  spiritual  solidarity  which  makes 
us  members  one  of  another,  members  of  one  body  of  which 
Jesus  Christ  is  Head.  Since  Our  Divine  Lord  saw  each 
of  us  a  spiritual  weakling,  susceptible  to  social  influence, 
guided  by  a  heart  that  harbors  selfish  instincts  and  impulses 
that  rebel  against  truth,  He  insisted  with  unvarying  dignity 
on  brotherhood,  sympathy  and  service  as  conditions  of  admis- 
sion to  His  Kingdom  and  favor.  There  is  much  truth  in  the 
observation.  "Men  have  never  felt  themselves  to  be  brothers 
in  good  fortune,  in  pride,  in  ambition,  in  success,  in  the 
emotion  born  of  conquest  and  of  enjoyment  of  earthly  bless- 
ings; but  in  the  face  of  danger,  in  misfortune,  in  times  of 
trial  Christianity  could  bid  men  to  regard  one  another  and 
treat  one  another  as  brothers  because  at  the  same  time  it  told 
them  that  they  were  weak  and  imperfect  creatures,  needing 

'Devas  in  Book  III,  Chapter  VI,  of  his  "Political  Economy"  offers 
a  strange  line  of  argument  in  favor  of  patience  with  inequality. 


EQUALITY  77 

to  assist  one  another  and  always  menaced  by  the  enemy  they 
held  concealed  within  themselves." 

"The  19th  century  on  the  contrary  told  men  that  they  were 
brothers  but  told  them  at  the  same  time  that  they  were  des- 
tined one  and  all  to  be  monarchs  of  the  universe.  .  .  .  Now 
is  the  rediscovery  of  brotherhood  in  common  misery."  1 

Salvation  is  our  free  choice.  Christ  offers  but  does  not 
compel  redemption.  He  teaches  but  leaves  acceptance  to 
our  choice.  He  waits  with  patient  love  for  the  recognition 
of  His  law  and  dominion  of  His  spirit  in  the  relations  of 
men. 

Democracy  finds  its  thinking  on  essentials  completed  by 
Christ.  Modern  aspirations  for  equality  endeavor  often  to 
account  for  themselves  independently  of  Him  Who  is  the 
Way,  the  Truth  and  the  Life.  As  well  might  the  fair  moon 
claim  the  serene  splendor  that  hides  its  chilling  depths,  as 
its  own  endowment  and  refuse  all  honor  to  the  sun.  The 
crucifixion  was  the  answer  of  the  strong  to  the  challenge 
of  Christ's  message  of  equality,  brotherhood  and  service 
to  man.  The  crucifixion  of  the  weaker  classes  with  which 
He  identified  Himself  is  the  answer  that  a  pagan  individual- 
ism has  given  to  their  appeal  for  life  and  hope  and  peace. 
In  as  far  then  as  poverty  is  a  problem  of  inequality  among 
men  it  is  a  spiritual  problem  and  its  remedy  must  be  sought 
in  spiritual  understanding  and  motive.  Since  poverty  is 
an  organic  feature  of  society,  the  outcome  of  social  proc- 
esses that  arise  in  a  complex  social  organization,  we  are 
compelled  to  see  it  and  combat  it  in  the  terms  of  social 
relations  and  the  spirit  of  Christian  love.  We  see  others  in 
truth  only  when  we  take  the  attitude  of  brotherly  love  toward 
them.  That  attitude  alone  promises  emancipation  from 
selfishness  and  mistaken  social  valuations.  And  in  it  alone 
do  we  find  our  compensations. 

It  does  no  violence  to  the  clear  teaching  of  the  Gospel  to 
accept  it  as  our  fundamental  guide  in  dealing  with  the  prob- 
lem of  human  inequality.  One  after  another  Our  Divine 

1  Atlantic  Monthly,  May,  1920,  p.  710. 


T8  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHAKITY 

Lord  hurled  His  amazing  revelations  against  the  institutions 
of  His  time.  The  Fatherhood  of  God,  the  infinite  value 
of  the  individual,  the  supremacy  of  spiritual  values,  equality 
in  dignity  and  destiny  as  well  as  equality  before  the  moral 
law  by  which  the  judgment  of  the  world  is  written  by  the 
hand  of  God,  the  obligation  and  splendor  of  service,  divine 
compensation  for  the  simplest  service,  bore  directly  on  the 
problem  of  human  equality  and  offered  for  the  first  time  to  a 
too  reluctant  world  the  spiritual  and  social  mastery  of  ine- 
quality. The  mountain  of  Calvary  became  therewith  the 
spiritual  watershed  of  the  world  that  directed  the  streams 
of  love  and  the  impulses  of  service  to  enrich  and  beautify 
the  lower  valleys  of  human  weakness  that  had  been  dark  and 
forbidding  before.  And  these  valleys  of  human  weakness 
remain  dark  and  forbidding  to-day  wherever  untouched  by 
the  spirit  of  Christ. 

That  blessed  spirit  moved  by  the  intemperate  energy  of 
love  does  not  await  the  slow  coercions  of  the  law  to  obey  the 
impulses  of  its  benevolence.  It  finds  in  every  form  of  strength 
whether  that  of  wealth  or  learning  or  virtue  or  culture  a 
stewardship  to  be  exercised  in  the  spirit  of  deepest  kind- 
ness in  favor  of  the  weak.  It  recognizes  as  supreme  in 
social  no  less  than  spiritual  relations  the  law  of  surplus 
service.  Surplus  strength  finds  its  nobility  in  service.  We 
do  not  own  our  surplus  strength.  We  owe  it.1  Our  Divine 
Lord  adapted  His  teaching,  precept  and  example  to  the  per- 
manent elements  in  human  nature.  We  can  find  no  indica- 
tion that  He  foresaw  a  time  when  men  and  women  would 
be  equal  in  powers,  happiness  and  achievement.  All  of  these 
accidental  differences  of  life  can  be  tolerated  without  danger 
when  the  spirit  of  His  love  and  the  high  coercions  of  His 
divine  law  are  respected.  Nor  can  we  find  any  indication 
that  Our  Lord  foresaw  any  time  when  we  might  ignore  the 
sanctity  of  the  human  person  and  the  claims  of  the  weak 
upon  the  generosity  and  service  of  the  strong.  Who  can 
look  out  upon  the  world  to-day  and  see  degraded  childhood 

*The  line  is  from  Professor  Peabody. 


EQUALITY  79 

robbed  of  its  innocence  and  opportunity  or  see  defenseless 
men  and  women  herded,  defeated,  endangered  in  mind  and 
body  and  soul  and  not  feel  some  touch  of  a  divine  indignation 
that  reminds  us  of  the  standards  of  life,  justice  and  service 
set  down  for  our  acceptance  by  the  Savior  of  the  world. 

The  inequalities  of  life  are  lodged  in  accidentals,  in  pow- 
ers, aptitudes  and  qualities.  These  are  modified  in  a  most 
far-reaching  way  by  social  arrangements,  conditions  and  re- 
lations. We  must,  therefore,  judge  these  in  their  bearing 
on  equality  and  on  poverty.  Equality  before  the  law  was 
negative  and  theoretical.  It  was  not  realized  in  fact  on  ac- 
count of  the  free  play  of  powers  which  congested  strength 
and  diffused  weakness  throughout  society.  The  poor  have 
not  enjoyed  equality  in  fact  before  the  law.  Justice  has 
failed  them  on  account  of  many  circumstances  such  as  cost, 
delay,  ignorance  of  rights  and  indifference  to  them  when 
known.  Now  differences  in  health,  in  education,  in  moral 
strength  and  social  reinforcement  have  become  determining 
and  have  had  far-reaching  effect  in  the  development  of 
poverty. 

Congenital  ill  health  due  to  ignorance,  helplessness,  indus- 
trial processes  through  which  parents  suffer  is  a  permanent 
handicap.  Neglect  before,  at  and  after  birth  endangers 
mother  and  child.  In  as  far  as  factors  that  are  social  in 
their  nature  and  action,  and  beyond  control  of  the  individual, 
injure  health  and  the  victims  are  unfitted  for  the  competitive 
struggle  and  normal  responsibilities  of  life,  the  impulses  of 
the  Christian  life  lead  us  to  inaugurate,  support  and  further 
every  effort  to  safeguard  health  in  order  to  prevent  a  handi- 
cap from  defeating  the  demands  of  equality  and,  therefore, 
justice. 

This  principle  draws  within  the  vital  circle  of  formal 
Christian  sympathy  and  charity  and  ennobles  with  spiritual 
dignity  and  recompense,  efforts  to  protect  infants  and 
mothers  and  children,  movements  to  reduce  industrial  haz- 
ards to  life  and  occupational  diseases,  plans  to  improve  hous- 
ing conditions  as  they  affect  health.  It  is,  of  course,  prefer- 


80  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

able  from  every  standpoint  to  induce  men  and  women  to  take 
intelligent  care  of  their  own  health.  We  are  after  all  but 
trustees  of  our  own  lives.  But  at  the  point  where  social 
factors  that  are  compelling,  endanger  health  and  life  and  the 
individual  is  helpless  this  solicitude  must  be  assumed  for 
him.  This  is  done  preferably  by  volunteer  agencies  and 
effort.  But  when  even  these  fail,  gradual  efforts  by  public- 
authority  must  be  encouraged.  Whatever  the  outcome  of  pres- 
ent controversies  and  doubts  as  to  necessary  health  activities 
by  public  authority  it  is  clear  that  so  long  as  unequals  com- 
pete, health  is  a  condition  to  effective  competition.  If  men 
and  women  and  youth  are  thrown  upon  their  own  resources 
to  find  their  living,  justice  demands  effective  health  pro- 
tection in  order  to  minimize  inequality. 

Mental  inequality  among  competitors  is  equally  determin- 
ing, perhaps  much  more  so  on  the  whole.  Superior  minds 
and  ailing  bodies  may  win  all  of  the  prizes  of  life.  Educa- 
tion is  now  a  condition  to  economic  survival.  Illiterate  men 
and  women  are  shut  out  from  every  occupation,  every  refine 
ment  and  joy  conditioned  on  ability  to  read  and  write.  Chil- 
dren are  in  danger  from  many  sides.  Education  depends 
on  the  wisdom  and  conscience  of  parents  not  on  that  of  the 
child.  It  depends  on  the  organization  and  quality  of  the 
school,  on  freedom  from  the  pressure  of  necessity  or  avarice 
which  would  force  the  child  into  gainful  occupation  during 
its  early  years. 

The  State  fears  an  ignorant  citizenship.  It  promotes 
measures  looking  toward  universal  education  as  steps  toward 
national  greatness.  The  individual  has  need  of  a  rudimen- 
tary education  at  least  in  order  that  he  may  gain  a  footing 
in  his  civilization.  He  needs  economic  training  if  he  is  to 
advance  from  the  ranks  of  the  unskilled  to  those  of  the 
skilled  and  if  he  is  to  compete  with  fair  chances  of  success. 
Economists  who  see  the  remedy  for  poverty  in  advance  from 
unskilled  to  skilled  ranks  see  a  precious  half  truth  at  least. 
Education  is  useful  in  that  it  ought  to  improve  the  quality 
of  citizenship.  It  is  necessary  as  equipment  in  the  com- 


EQUALITY  81 

petitive  struggle  for  a  living.  The  greater  one's  handicaps 
the  more  pressing  the  need  of  education.  It  is  necessary 
too  for  refinement  of  living,  for  understanding  of  spiritual 
and  moral  truths,  of  personal  and  social  ideals. 

Inequality  appears  in  moral  qualities.  Character  is, 
therefore,  a  source  of  strength  in  the  competitive  struggle. 
Moral  weakness  is  a  handicap.  The  tragic  extremes  to 
which  we  are  led  by  this  truth  are  seen  in  the  marked  asso- 
ciation of  poverty  and  delinquency.  Moral  qualities  are  a 
form  of  intelligence,  of  understanding.  The  man  who  is 
honest  and  industrious  possesses  by  that  fact  a  degree  of  in- 
telligence denied  to  one  who  lacks  these  traits.  Good  char- 
acter honors  God  and  makes  for  one's  true  peace.  But  it 
is  in  addition  a  reliable  asset  in  the  unequal  competition 
of  life.  We  find  among  the  poor  a  minimum  of  strength 
and  opportunity  with  a  maximum  of  danger  and  difficulty. 
Justice  expresses  its  deepest  instincts  in  the  search  for 
equality  in  some  degree.  It  must,  therefore,  keep  in  mind 
moral  protection  for  the  poor,  adequate  training  in  moral  and 
spiritual  truth,  wholesome  surroundings  in  which  virtue  will 
be  safeguarded  and  innocence  may  walk  unafraid. 

Another  aspect  of  inequality  is  seen  in  the  degrees  of  social 
reenforcement  or  lack  of  it  that  may  be  experienced.  As 
civilization  becomes  more  complex  the  individual  is  helped* 
or  hindered  to  a  greater  degree  by  social  arrangements  and 
conditions.  Friends,  reputation,  family,  credit  in  the  busi- 
ness and  social  worlds  are  sources  of  inspiration  and  cheer 
always.  They  who  are  without  these  can  scarcely  compete 
with  those  who  have  them.  One  cannot  overrate  the  role 
of  such  reenforcement  in  normal  life.  An  unskilled  laborer 
out  of  work,  whom  no  one  knows,  no  one  has  occasion  to  trust, 
in  whom  no  one  is  personally  interested,  feels  in  his  blameless 
soul  the  chill  despair  that  poisons  life. 

Inequality  presents  itself  to  us  in  respect  of  health,  home, 
education,  character  and  social  reenforcement.  When  we 
compel  unequals  to  compete  for  a  living,  justice  requires 
that  we  bring  strength  to  the  weak  in  as  far  as  human  wis- 


82  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

dom  can  do  so.  To  the  extent  to  which  social  relations  and 
arrangements  contribute  to  this  weakness  justice  sends  us 
as  its  messengers  to  modify  them  in  a  way  to  equalize  in 
some  degree  the  conditions  of  the  struggle.  To  send  weak 
men,  women  and  children  into  a  blind  struggle  against  their 
more  fortunate  fellows,  to  condition  life,  health,  refinement, 
morality  and  salvation  on  the  outcome  of  the  unequal  strug- 
gle lacks  no  element  of  tragedy  and  no  promise  of  woe. 
That  men  can  do  this  and  be  indifferent  to  the  problem  and 
its  outcome  is  at  once  our  mystery  and  our  shame. 

All  of  these  processes  assemble  in  the  effort  to  develop  a 
supplementary  social  constitution  which  will  provide  for  the 
poor  at  their  points  of  danger  and  distress.  All  policies, 
standards  and  efforts  must  take  into  account  the  elementary 
problem  of  inequality  and  strengthen  the  weak  at  the  points 
where  their  own  resources  are  endangered  or  fail.  They 
must  modify  the  competitive  process  in  order  to  stop  the 
savagery  of  competition  before  it  reduces  the  weak  to  a  help- 
less condition.  All  of  these  efforts  should  indicate  and 
insure  intervention  by  law  at  points  where  its  coercions  are 
necessary  to  insure  justice.  Efforts  must  be  made  to  recon- 
struct self-confidence,  home  life,  school  life  and  religious 
life  among  the  poor.  We  may  never  forget  that  poverty  is 
not  only  the  problem  of  the  individual  but  also  of  society, 
of  the  State  and  of  Christianity.  Any  view  of  it  that  falls 
short  of  these  aspects  can  make  no  promise  of  effective  ser- 
vice of  the  poor. 


CHAPTEE  VII 

CHARITY 

JUSTICE  is  fundamental  in  the  social  order  because  it  de- 
fines and  defends  the  individual  at  points  where  he  is  in 
danger  from  others  or  from  social  conditions  against  which 
he  is  helpless.  Charity  is  fundamental  in  the  social  order 
because  it  corrects  the  selfish  impulses  of  strength  and  reen- 
forces  those  who  are  weak  with  a  view  to  a  more  perfect 
realization  of  the  cultural  and  spiritual  ideals  of  life.  Were 
there  no  sense  of  justice  individuals  would  be  crushed  by 
the  community.  Were  there  no  sense  of  charity  the  commu- 
nity would  perish  because  self-seeking  would  disintegrate  it. 
Justice  involves  full  respect  for  the  rights  of  others  no  lesa 
than  insistence  on  one's  personal  rights.  Charity  includes 
all  life  and  all  attitudes  in  life.  It  is  not  confined  to  the 
giving  of  relief.  It  engages  the  solicitude  of  every  form 
of  strength  and  wisdom  for  every  kind  of  weakness  and 
despair.  The  law  of  charity  is  universal  in  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ.  The  qualities  upon  which  Our  Divine  Lord  laid 
emphasis  are  the  offspring  of  charity  which  is  the  bond  of 
union  among  men.  Kindness,  forgiveness,  humility,  free- 
dom from  resentment,  the  discipline  of  ambition  are  required 
for  the  corporate  unity  of  life  and  they  are  insisted  upon  in 
the  teaching  of  Christ  because  of  His  desire  to  see  social 
relations  express  the  Divine  Will.  Hatred,  scorn,  crass  self- 
ishness are  forbidden  because  they  break  the  divine  harmony 
of  life. 

Personal  qualities  are  of  supreme  importance.  Those 
qualities  which  lead  toward  unity  of  spirit  and  cultural  bal- 
ance in  social  relations  must  be  cultivated  while  anti-social 
traits  must  be  conquered.  The  law  of  life  is  the  law  of  the 

83 


84  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

whole  of  life.  In  this  sense  morality  is  wholesomeness.  It 
follows  from  this  that  the  separate  interests  of  life  must 
be  fostered  and  judged  by  their  relation  to  the  whole  of 
life.  Partial  views  of  life  are  tyrannies.  Truths  are  but 
phases  of  whole  truth.  Partial  views  of  life  are  like  stubborn 
fractions  that  refuse  to  melt  into  the  unity  that  alone  can 
give  them  meaning.  Judgment  of  wealth  and  desire  for  it 
concern  but  one  fractional  interest  in  life.  If  wealth  is 
loved  and  sought  out  of  its  proportioned  place  in  the  whole 
of  life,  it  destroys  the  harmonies  of  culture,  perverts  judg- 
ment and  throws  all  of  the  qualities  of  the  Christian  life  into 
confusion.  Love  of  power  and  distinction  when  the  forms 
of  power  are  sought  out  of  proportion,  causes  equal  moral 
confusion.  Every  one  of  the  interests  that  stirs  us  to  action 
and  forms  the  center  of  ambition  must  be  viewed  always 
through  the  discipline  imposed  upon  it  by  the  vision  of  all 
life.  Whenever  a  single  one  of  these  interests  is  released 
from  that  discipline  it  betrays  an  unmistakable  tendency  to 
become  the  central  factor  in  all  life,  to  shape  all  other  inter- 
ests in  subdued  relation  to  itself.  Thus  it  is  that  business 
becomes  one's  religion.  Power,  art,  learning,  pleasure,  may 
likewise  become  a  religion,  a  supreme  organizing  aim  of  life, 
subjecting  every  other  interest  to  its  tyranny. 

The  deepest  drift  of  humanity  is  toward  a  united  view  of 
life.  All  of  the  aspirations  of  historical  culture  assert  and 
respect  some  kind  of  unity  and  insist  that  every  fraction  of 
life  must  be  seen  in  place  and  proportion  in  that  complete 
view.  The  longing  of  life  for  integration  cannot  be  con- 
quered. Every  single  mind  builds  toward  its  own  unity. 
Collective  social  ideals  declare  the  larger  unities.  Hence  all 
human  qualities  and  all  human  interests  must  be  understood 
in  their  relation  to  the  whole  concept  of  life,  to  the  concept 
of  the  whole  of  life. 

Human  culture  has  always  aspired  after  a  moral  unity  in 
life.  All  sciences  work  toward  the  center  of  reality  from 
every  point  upon  its  circumference  and  their  converging 
pathways  lead  toward  God,  the  center  of  all  truth.  Philoso- 


CHARITY  85 

phies  are  the  unifying  interpretations  of  sciences  in  their 
search  for  truth.  Religion  embraces  the  aspirations  of  cul- 
ture for  the  moral  unity  of  life  and  also  the  aspirations  of 
science  for  unity  of  understanding,  truth  and  interpretation. 
Natural  religions  have  made  persistent  but  incomplete  when 
not  mistaken,  efforts  to  discover  and  declare  the  unity  of 
life,  of  truth  and  action.  Revealed  religion  complete  in  both 
intellectual  and  moral  content  solves  the  essential  problem 
in  the  supernatural  view  of  life  and  the  law  of  its  behavior. 
This  is  done  through  Jesus  Christ,  the  Way,  the  Truth  and 
the  Life.  He  has  told  us  that  love  of  God  and  of  neighbor 
which  fills  the  heart,  gives  splendor  to  the  soul,  directs 
thought  and  all  endeavor  is  the  way  to  eternal  life.  Charity 
is  the  highest  element  in  the  law.  Its  function  is  to  assert 
the  unity  of  speculative  truth  and  our  law  of  practical  action 
in  relation  to  one  another  and  in  our  common  relations  to  God. 
Thus  charity  finds  its  place  in  declaring  and  promoting  the 
supernatural  unity  of  life  and  in  defending  it  against  all 
of  the  processes  of  moral,  intellectual  and  social  disintegra- 
tion, due  to  the  extremes  of  self-seeking  and  self-assertion. 

Charity  is  not  merely  emotion.  It  is  a  form  of  under- 
standing. There  can  be  no  truth  in  our  view  of  one  another 
if  charity  is  excluded  from  it.  The  only  fundamental  atti- 
tude of  man  toward  man  approved  by  Jesus  Christ  and  in 
harmony  with  the  law  of  life  is  that  of  love.  Hatred,  scorn, 
indifference,  cruelty,  are  offenses  against  charity  because 
they  are  the  outcome  of  false  views  of  fellowmen.  We  are 
compelled  at  whatsoever  cost  in  effort  and  sacrifice  to  strug- 
gle to  gain  the  charity  which  is  both  truth  and  law.  It  in- 
volves reverence,  truth,  kindly  impulses  and  such  a  discipline 
of  human  values  as  will  enable  men  to  see  one  another  as 
God  wills  and  to  shape  their  conduct  in  every  detail  upon  the 
vision  gained. 

It  is  a  mistake  from  whose  consequences  few  of  us  escape 
to  assume  that  the  law  of  charity  relates  alone  to  the  poor 
and  that  the  service  of  these  exhausts  its  obligations.  The 
attitudes  of  charity  are  as  indicated,  fundamental  and  of 


86  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

universal  application  in  social  life.  The  impulses  of  charity 
follow  those  attitudes  and  express  them.  They  must  govern 
the  relations  of  the  powerful  among  themselves,  the  relations 
of  the  weak  among  themselves  and  relations  among  strong 
and  weak,  among  sinful  and  righteous,  among  ignorant  and 
learned.  Charity  as  attitude  toward  the  poor  and  service 
of  them  is,  therefore,  one  incident  of  a  general  law  and  its 
application.  This  can  in  no  way  reduce  the  importance  or 
impair  the  splendor  of  the  relief  of  the  poor.  Our  Divine 
Lord  singled  out  this  aspect  of  charity  for  particular  insis- 
tence and  detailed  application.  While  we  may  be  compelled 
to  modify  the  forms  of  this  service  and  extend  its  aim  as  social 
conditions  change,  nothing  can  diminish  the  moral  grandeur 
imparted  to  the  service  of  the  poor  by  Christ. 

There  are  many  obstacles  to  our  understanding  of  the  full 
import  of  the  law  of  charity  and  to  our  obedience  to  that  law. 

One  of  them  is  lack  of  complete  and  prompt  trust  in  the 
Divine  ordering  of  life.  Many  tend  to  shut  off  the  full 
power  of  the  appeal  of  the  love  of  God  by  failing  to  realize 
that  peace  is  found  in  His  will  alone  and  that  unquestioning 
trust  in  the  outcome  of  obedience  to  that  law  is  fundamental. 
Many  fall  short  of  the  full  duty  in  charity  because  of  the 
failure  to  trust  spontaneously  in  the  doing  of  that  duty  as 
highest  wisdom.  The  tendency  to  place  excessive  confidence 
in  personal  wisdom,  in  the  plans  of  ambition  or  the  quest  of 
power  and  the  possession  of  wealth  is  widespread.  It  chills 
virtue  and  disturbs  all  spiritual  vision. 

Social  geography  is  another  obstacle  because  it  so  groups 
us  and  confines  our  relations  that  strong  and  weak  do  not 
enter  into  normal  and  representative  association.  Many 
types  of  strong  are  brought  together  in  intimate  association. 
They  tend  to  organize  thought  and  express  emotion  under  the 
narrowing  influence  of  such  arrangements.  In  this  way  a 
view  of  life  is  developed  which  disturbs  proportions  and  lim- 
its the  need  of  service  and  opportunity  for  it.  Another 
obstacle  is  found  in  general  failure  to  grasp  the  deeper 
meaning  of  the  law  of  charity  and  to  be  satisfied  with  mis- 


CHAEITY  87 

taken  appreciations  of  it.  One  must  think  one's  way  through 
all  of  the  confusion  of  life  and  of  conflicting  claims  presented 
in  the  name  of  duty  in  order  to  gain  insight  into  the  incom- 
parable simplicity  and  sweetness  of  the  law  of  love  as  laid 
down  by  Christ. 

Another  obstacle  of  far-reaching  effect  is  found  in  the 
tyranny  of  social  valuations  which  press  us  to  give  to  power, 
to  wealth,  to  social  security  and  to  spurious  claims  upon  re- 
sources and  sympathy  a  degree  of  deference  and  obedience 
which  destroys  the  spiritual  vision  of  life  and  the  balance  in 
spiritual  valuations.  ~No  man  of  wealth  can  be  selfish  or 
arrogant  or  indifferent  toward  the  poor  unless  he  overem- 
phasize the  value  of  wealth  and  underrate  the  sanctity  of 
human  personality.  No  man  of  so-called  culture  will  scorn 
the  uncultured  poor  and  refuse  to  interest  himself  sympa- 
thetically in  them  unless  he  adopt  a  partial  view  of  life  which 
is  essentially  vulgar  and  shut  his  eyes  against  the  splendor 
with  which  God  envelops  every  human  person.  No  in- 
dustrial leader  will  claim  feudal  lordship  over  the  weak  who 
labor  for  him  unless  he  fights  down  the  impulses  that  would 
lead  him  to  be  tender,  thoughtful  and  fair,  unless  the  eco- 
nomic motive  and  mistaken  emphasis  upon  industrial  power 
pervert  his  judgment  of  values  and  dull  his  hearing  against 
the  declared  commands  of  God  and  the  whispered  appeals  of 
the  poor. 

Wealth  has  gained  so  many  uses  foreign  to  its  real  function 
that  the  world  has  placed  a  supreme  valuation  upon  it  and 
has  stirred  the  desire  of  it  to  the  point  of  sustained  fury. 
Philosophy  has  followed  action.  They  who  own  wealth  and 
seek  to  own  it  are  made  its  slaves  unless  the  ideal  restraints 
of  life  give  effective  guidance  and  discipline.  So  many  forms 
of  distress,  hopelessness  and  sin  are  associated  with  poverty 
that  those  of  wealth  and  culture  recoil  from  social  contact 
which  should  lead  to  service.  Intelligent  service  of  the  poor 
is  so  exacting  and  complicated  that  large  numbers  shrink 
from  both  the  solicitude  and  the  effort  that  are  involved. 
Hence  they  either  give  no  service  or  give  the  least  exacting  of 


88  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHAKITY 

all  gifts,  money  alone,  and  delegate  to  others  the  homely 
offices  of  service.  Now  this  permits  many  of  that  type  to  live 
in  error  and  it  robs  them  of  the  wholesome  influence  of  actual 
contact  with  the  poor  and  understanding  of  them.  Study, 
patience,  industry  and  perseverance  are  required  for  the 
worthy  service  of  the  poor.  Many  shrink  from  such  cost  of 
service  and  forego  it.  Narrow  views  of  the  meaning  of 
service  lead  many  to  give  it  indiscriminately  with  little  profit 
to  themselves  and  harm  to  the  objects  of  their  benevolence. 

Other  obstacles  are  found  in  the  limitations  to  which  all 
of  the  service  of  the  poor  is  necessarily  subjected.  They  are 
the  least  resourceful  among  men.  Their  need  is  greatest 
and  very  often  their  response  to  refining  influence  is  most 
delayed.  The  work  of  rebuilding  the  individual  or  the 
family,  of  eliminating  fear,  awakening  ambition  and  win- 
ning the  poor  to  industry  and  self-discipline  is  far  more 
exacting  than  the  ordinary  tasks  of  normal  life.  Only  full 
insight  into  the  law  of  charity  and  the  truth  that  underlies 
it  will  give  the  wisdom  and  the  strength  to  obey  that  law  in 
the  tedious  service  of  the  poor.  This  difficulty  is  the  more 
pronounced  when  mistaken  views  of  poverty  or  ignorance 
of  social  processes  that  lie  behind  it  blind  one  to  the  full 
range  of  personal  and  social  demands  made  upon  us  by  the 
poor.  The  North  Star  of  the  Christian's  world  is  the  neigh- 
bor who  is  in  need. 

Saint  Vincent  de  Paul  was  constant  in  his  use  of  the 
phrase  "The  poor  are  our  masters."  He  inserted  it  into  the 
vow  made  by  the  first  sisters  whom  he  consecrated  to  the 
service  of  the  poor  in  the  name  of  Christ.  If  the  poor  are  our 
masters,  their  need  and  not  our  temperament  or  preference 
becomes  determining.  Hence  the  full  duties  of  charity 
toward  them  involve  intelligent  study,  restraint  of  sympathy 
and  patience  with  the  limitations  which  we  cannot  control. 
Those  who  are  indisposed  to  make  the  effort  required  to  serve 
the  poor  intelligently  and  with  effect  will  serve  them  badly  or 
not  at  all. 

The  simplicities  of  charity  must  be  adapted  to  the  com- 


CHAEITY  89 

plexities  of  our  social  system  and  the  complex  problems  of 
poverty.     The  causes  of  poverty  are  so  complex  and  its  cir- 
cumstances are  so  stubborn  that  concentration,  patient  study, 
experience  and  training  are  required  to  do  for  the  poor  all 
that  they  need.    Organizations  are  necessary  as  is  specialized 
service.     Most  of  our  service  of  the  poor  must  be  vicarious, 
that  is  done  by  others  for  us.    We  are  compelled,  therefore, 
in  obeying  the  law  of  charity  to  delegate  the  service  of  the 
poor  to  others  who  are  qualified.     We  may  not,  however, 
delegate    our    solicitude.     That    remains    always    personal. 
They  who  surrender  it  misunderstand  the  law  of  Christ  and 
defeat  their  own  spiritual  progress.     The  tendency  of  large 
numbers  to  delegate  both  solicitude  and  service  and  confine 
their  duty  to  charity  to  the  giving  of  money  must  hinder 
the  full  spiritual  understanding  of  charity  as  the  law  of  life. 
The  practical  aims  of  charity  are  taken  from  the  needs 
of  the  poor.     The  first  of  these  aims  is  that  of  relief,  the 
giving  of  food,  clothing  and  immediate  medical  care  as  may 
be  required.     But  the  charity  of  Christ  never  lacks  fore- 
sight.    It  will  aim  to  prevent  recurrence  of  the  need  and  to 
assure  independence,  self-reliance  and  opportunity  in  order 
that  they  who  suffer  may  attain  normal  strength.     But  the 
foresight  of  charity  goes  much  farther.     It  discovers  the 
social  conditions  and  arrangements  that  single  out  the  weak 
constantly  and  hurl  them  into  poverty.    It  feels  the  obligation 
to  work  for  such  social  movements  and  conditions  as  will 
stop  this  process  and  offer  protection   against  dependence 
before  it  strikes  the  poor.    It  will  aim  to  spread  knowledge  of 
poverty,  to  sharpen  the  conscience  of  the  strong,  to  build  up 
public  opinion,  to  strengthen  the  cultural  forces  and  promote 
the  legislation  required  to  put  an  end  to  the  poverty  that  is 
degrading  and  hopeless,   and  to  bring  relief  and  comfort 
where  human  wisdom  cannot  succeed  in  bringing  justice  and 
independence. 

As  regards  our  own  charities  one  duty  remains  clear.  It 
is  that  of  neglecting  not  a  single  activity  that  can  serve  the 
poor,  or  prevent  poverty  and  bring  the  fullest  measure  of 


90  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHAKITY 

refinement  and  security  to  the  weakest  of  our  fellowmen. 
No  one  who  obeys  the  law  of  charity  must  do  all  of  its  duties. 
Every  one  will  have  some  duty  to  perform,  preferably  the 
kind  that  he  can  do  with  best  effect.  But  in  the  summing  up 
of  our  charities  as  a  whole,  it  would  be  a  shadow  upon  them 
were  we  to  neglect  a  single  one  of  the  far-reaching  services 
that  the  plight  of  the  poor  invites.  We  infer  readily  from 
the  foregoing  that  the  relations  between  religion  and  charity 
are  most  intimate.  From  the  supernatural  standpoint  the 
service  of  the  poor  is  imperative  because  it  is  the  outcome  of 
our  supernatural  insight  into  human  relations  and  valuations 
on  the  one  hand  and  obedience  to  the  specific  command  of 
Jesus  Christ  on  the  other  hand.  Historically  the  charities 
of  the  Church  resulted  from  the  spiritual  vision  of  the 
Church,  from  her  grasp  of  the  immediate  and  universal  truth 
of  unity  and  law  of  service.  The  Church  claims  divine  insti- 
tution. It  is  the  corporate  expression  of  the  mind  of  Christ, 
declaring  His  revelation  as  to  belief  and  conduct  It  is 
natural,  therefore,  to  insist  constantly  upon  the  spiritual 
nature  of  charity  and  the  spiritual  quality  of  the  service  of 
the  poor.  The  Christian  denominations  that  look  upon  reli- 
gion primarily  as  a  problem  of  individual  concern  and  tend 
to  regard  a  Church  as  a  natural  fellowship  springing  out  of 
identity  of  belief,  are  inclined  to  stress  the  social  phases 
of  poverty  and  of  service  with  diminishing  insistence  in  fact, 
if  not  in  doctrine,  upon  the  spiritual  qualities  of  the  law. 
The  Protestant  author  of  the  admirable  life  of  Saint 
Vincent  de  Paul,  E.  K.  Sanders,  speaks  of  him  as  follows: 
"His  vast  undertakings  were  never  so  engrossing  as  to  dis- 
tract him  from  his  life-long  endeavor  after  self-purification." 
"To  overlook  even  momentarily  the  spiritual  bias  of  all  his 
actions  is  to  fail  in  comprehension  of  their  purport;  to 
remember  his  charitable  achievements  and  forget  the  hours 
of  prayer  in  which  they  germinated  is  to  miss  the  real  inter- 
est of  his  life."  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Professor  Todd 
gives  Saint  Vincent  de  Paul  credit  for  having  anticipated 
the  principles  of  modern  scientific  relief.  The  religious 


CHARITY  91 

basis  of  social  work  is  described  as  follows  in  Todd's  volume 
on  "The  Scientific  Spirit  and  Social  Work,"  while  the  vol- 
ume commends  strongly  the  dictates  of  scientific  charity. 

"There  are  certain  aspects  of  Jesus'  teaching  which  are  basic 
to  a  wholesome  concept  of  social  work,  and  which  may  be  called 
scientific  without  abusing  the  term.  His  concept  of  God  as  love 
and  of  all  worship  or  service  as  love  is  the  key  to  any  sound  process 
of  social  amelioration.  His  vision  of  social  justice  as  laid  down 
in  the  Golden  Rule  and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  the  greatest 
Magna  Charta  of  human  rights  and  liberties  ever  formulated.  In 
his  doctrine  of  the  vine  and  its  branches  he  lays  down  not  only  a 
plan  for  church  organization — the  church  universal,  the  communion 
of  the  saints,  the  City  of  God,  the  Mystic  Body — but  he  forecasts 
a  leading  concept  of  modern  sociological  theory;  namely,  that 
human  society  is  an  organic  unity,  if  not  of  the  biological,  tben 
of  the  psychological  order.  And,  mark  this,  that  organic  unity 
as  Jesus  saw  it  seems  to  overleap  every  barrier  of  geography  or 
race  and  to  anticipate  what  we  begin  to  call  the  international  mind. 

"If,  as  I  believe  is  the  case,  religion  and  science  are  not  abso- 
lutely opposites  but  are  complementary,  mutual  correctives,  then 
Jesus  rendered  science  and  social  work  a  magnificent  service  by 
two  contributions.  First,  His  consistency,  living  and  demonstrat- 
ing the  theory  of  God  as  ever-present  and  all-powerful.  Second, 
His  idealism;  an  absolute  idealism  which  conceived  God  as  all  in 
all,  a  power  that  makes  not  only  for  righteousness  but  also  for 
health,  peace,  and  the  life  more  abundant.  It  was  this  indomitable 
optimism  which  sustained  him  and  which  preserves  and  energizes 
the  modern  social  worker  whether  he  be  churched  or  unchurched, 
Christian  or  non-Christian,  or  name  any  name  prescribed  in  the 
codes  whereby  man  must  be  saved." 

The  pathway  to  the  temple  of  Christian  truth  erected  by 
the  hand  of  Christ  to  declare  the  splendor  of  God  is  traveled 
only  at  the  cost  of  effort  and  constant  struggle.  Within  us 
lie  instincts,  ambitions,  limitations,  doubts,  scattered  pur- 
poses, fragments  of  truth  gathered  into  deceitful  unities. 
All  of  them  operate  to  confuse,  mislead  or  dishearten  us. 
From  without  us  comes  confusion  from  rivalries,  from  the 
allurements  of  ease,  false  teachers  and  debasing  conflicts. 
Every  one  of  these  finds  allies  within  the  citadel  of  the  soul 
and  out  of  the  collusion  that  results  our  betrayal  is  only  too 


92  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

often  effected.  Nothing  can  carry  us  past  all  of  these  dan- 
gers of  error  in  thought  and  mistake  in  action  except  the 
vision  of  the  full  truth  and  the  authority  of  every  particle 
of  that  truth  as  found  in  the  temple  of  revelation  from  which 
Christ,  the  Light  of  the  World,  shines  in  enduring  splendor. 
He  teaches  us  the  unity  of  all  truth,  the  brotherhood  of  all 
men,  the  unity  of  the  race,  the  gentle  compulsions  of  divine 
love,  the  supremacy  of  His  Kingdom  and  its  valuations, 
spiritual  judgment  of  all  things  and  persons,  and  trust  in  the 
obedience  to  His  law  that  knows  no  doubt  or  hesitation. 
Only  in  complete  vision,  in  complete  trust,  in  complete  con- 
secration do  we  find  the  harmony  of  charity  and  the  eternal 
foundations  upon  which  it  rests.  Only  when  the  spirit  of 
Christ  has  unhindered  sway  over  every  recess  in  the  broad 
savannahs  of  the  soul  do  we  share  in  the  abundant  life  and 
sanctifying  truth  that  He  offers. 

From  this  standpoint  we  gain  mastery  over  certain  falla- 
cies that  do  much  harm.  The  assumption  that  mere  mate- 
rial relief  can  satisfy  the  full  law  of  charity  and  excuse  the 
benefactor  from  all  concern  beyond  the  hunger  of  the  poor 
does  much  to  obscure  our  understanding  of  the  law  of  love 
and  service.  The  heart  that  has  gained  the  full  measure 
of  the  love  of  God  and  of  man  feels  impelled  not  alone  to 
serve  the  poor  but  also  to  recast  institutions,  to  master  social 
processes  and  to  labor  without  ceasing  until  all  of  the  poor 
have  been  served  and  saved  and  poverty  has  been  freed  from 
its  degradation  and  reduced  to  the  smallest  possible  limits. 

The  assumption  that  one  may  disassociate  service  of  the 
poor  from  religious  truth,  religious  motive  and  religious 
inspiration  strikes  at  the  unity  of  life  and  at  the  harmony 
of  the  revelation  of  Christ.  Such  an  assumption  is  surely  out 
of  place  in  the  lives  and  efforts  of  those  who  believe  in  Jesus 
Christ  as  the  Son  of  God  and  who  profess  obedience  to  His 
law.  Similarly,  one  who  assumes  that  the  service  of  the 
poor  may  dispense  with  all  concern  for  their  benefactors, 
interferes  with  the  complete  harmony  of  the  spiritual  law  of 
life.  Nothing  stands  out  more  clearly  in  Holy  Scripture 


CHAKITY  93 

than  insistence  upon  the  spiritual  value  of  service  of  the  poor 
in  the  lives  of  those  who  serve  them.  The  parable  of  the 
Good  Samaritan  was  told  in  answer  to  the  lawyer's  ques- 
tion, "What  must  I  do  to  possess  eternal  life  ?"  The  methods 
of  efficiency  that  disregard  this  truth  and  subject  service  of 
the  poor  to  the  demands  of  economic  axioms  make  insuffi- 
cient allowance  when  they  make  any  at  all,  for  the  place  of 
charity  in  the  supernatural  unity  of  the  race. 

No  one  may  excuse  carelessness,  indifference  to  results, 
methods  that  hurt  directly,  the  poor  whom  we  would  serve. 
Any  attempt  to  defend  faulty  methods  or  indifferent  service 
or  disregard  the  most  effective  methods  of  charity  known  to 
the  mind  of  man,  must  be  interpreted  as  an  indignity  in  the 
spiritual  life.  A  social  worker  whatever  his  motive,  whose 
methods  pauperize  and  enervate  the  poor,  encouraging  them 
in  laziness,  deception  and  fraud  is  as  much  their  enemy  as  the 
economic  tyrant  who  is  willing  to  accumulate  wealth  at  the 
cost  of  the  agony  of  the  weak.  On  this  account  the  service 
of  the  poor  requires  supreme  intelligence,  eagerness  to  mas- 
ter effective  methods  of  service,  readiness  to  abandon  inef- 
fective ways  when  better  ones  may  be  found,  humble  self- 
effacement  combined  with  industry  and  intelligence  as  all  of 
these  were  displayed  so  creditably  in  the  thought  and  action 
of  the  peerless  Vincent  de  Paul.  While  these  principles 
must  guide  every  one  who  obeys  the  laws  of  surplus  service 
and  places  his  resources  at  the  service  of  the  weak,  they  place 
our  charities  as  a  whole  under  specific  and  compelling  obliga- 
tion to  draw  the  best  out  of  human  experience  and  combine 
it  with  our  understanding  of  the  Divine  law.  Aptitudes 
and  circumstances  may  govern  the  individual  but  our  chari- 
ties as  a  whole  may  claim  no  exemptions  from  the  full  claims 
of  the  poor  upon  us  nor  may  we  be  excused  from  a  single 
noble  purpose  or  large  endeavor  developed  in  the  entire  field 
of  social  service  and  approved  to  the  intelligence  of  the 
world. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

PROPERTY 

POVERTY  is  an  aspect  of  the  system  of  private  property. 
It  indicates  the  point  at  which  normal  methods  of  gaining 
income  and  making  provision  against  the  physical  and  social 
risks  of  life  break  down.  The  property  system  has  been 
developed  through  the  frankest  kind  of  appeal  to  selfishness 
and  approval  of  its  triumph.  The  impulse  to  "get"  wealth, 
to  accumulate  and  administer  it  as  one  wishes  has  been  ap- 
proved and  universally  rewarded.  At  the  point  where  the 
principle  of  "getting"  property  breaks  down  dependence 
appears  and  the  principle  of  "giving"  enters.  The  giving  of 
food  and  clothing  to  the  poor  is  a  phase  of  the  distribution 
of  wealth  under  altruistic  not  egoistic  motives.  The  motives 
and  valuations  that  operate  here  are  fundamentally  unlike 
those  that  govern  the  processes  of  acquisition.  The  timid, 
the  dull  and  the  awkward,  those  weak  of  body  and  mind, 
orphans,  widows,  cripples,  who  are  unable  to  gain  income 
through  their  own  efforts  live  and  hope  by  the  mercy  of  those 
who  give.  The  point  of  breakdown  of  the  principle  of  self- 
seeking  marks  the  frontier  line  of  the  kingdom  of  charity 
where  the  spirit  of  God  and  the  sanctities  of  His  law  prevail. 

The  system  of  private  property  is  one  phase  of  the  entire 
system  of  property  that  obtains  in  human  society.  Owner- 
ship and  management  of  property  may  be  simple  and  indi- 
vidual, as  occurs  when  the  owner  of  a  small  shop  manages 
it  without  association  with  others.  Property  may  be  private 
in  ownership  but  socialized  in  function  as  is  the  case  when 
many  hundreds  or  thousands  are  share  owners  in  an  indus- 
trial enterprise.  They  delegate  management  to  representa- 
tives who  determine  all  of  the  conditions  of  industry  and 

94 


PROPERTY  95 

report  dividends  or  profits  to  owners.  To  an  overwhelming 
extent  ownership  of  property  is  impotent  in  industry,  since 
its  complications  are  far  beyond  the  capacity  of  owners 
themselves.  In  this  way  the  conscience  of  property  is  weak- 
ened when  it  is  not  lost  and  the  motives  of  accumulation  are 
freed  from  the  discipline  of  the  Christian  conscience  of  the 
owner.  If  we  were  to  compel  owners  of  property  to  hold  and 
manage  it  themselves  without  merging  it  into  amalgamations, 
the  arrangement  would  overturn  the  world.  There  are  other 
forms  of  associated  private  ownership  of  property  as  seen 
in  the  ownership  of  Churches,  private  schools,  insurance  and 
benefit  funds  and  mutual  benefit  organizations  of  many 
kinds.  This  form  has  taken  on  greatest  importance  in  life 
as  a  supplement  to  the  outcome  of  the  distribution  of  wealth 
effected  through  self-seeking. 

Public  property,  all  forms  owned  by  city  or  state  and 
managed  for  the  common  welfare  is  another  fundamental  fea- 
ture of  the  property  system  as  a  whole.  Streets,  parks,  gov- 
ernmental buildings,  public  schools  and  some  forms  of  indus- 
try are  public  property.  Municipal  street  railways,  mines, 
railroads,  water  systems  and  means  of  communication  are 
forms  of  industry  that  are  at  times  owned  and  operated  by 
the  civil  authorities.  The  pressure  of  Socialism  is  in  the 
direction  of  practically  complete  ownership  and  management 
by  the  public  of  all  industrial  processes.  It  proposes  to  sub- 
stitute the  motive  of  service  for  that  of  profit  and  to  adjust 
the  entire  production  of  wealth  to  that  ideal.  Now  such  a 
system  of  private  ownership  would  be  practically  restricted 
to  things  that  we  consume  in  living  and  income  would  be 
confined  to  compensation  for  service  alone.  Such  an  arrange- 
ment would  eliminate  most  of  the  motives  of  accumulation,' 
stifle  all  incentives  to  it  and  place  the  selfishness  that 
expresses  itself  in  ownership,  in  practical  subjection. 

The  proposals  now  favored  so  widely  that  look  toward 
private  cooperative  enterprise  in  both  production  and  distri- 
bution are  intended  to  supplement  private  ownership  and  to 
retain  the  incentives  and  opportunities  for  private  owner- 


96  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

ship  upon  which  progress  and  industry  are  conditioned. 
There  are  many  who  advocate  in  addition  to  such  measures 
public  ownership  and  operation  of  railroads,  mines,  tele- 
graph and  telephone  for  the  sake  of  the  public.  Nearly  all 
of  the  important  social  reform  movements  that  aim  at  either 
social  pressure  or  legislation  have  as  their  purpose  the 
amelioration  of  the  savagery  of  competition.  The  curbing 
of  the  strong  and  the  protection  of  the  weak  are  the  two  aims 
that  inspire  these  efforts.  Minimum  wage  legislation,  factory 
laws  and  child  welfare  legislation  are  instances  in  point. 

When  we  look  upon  poverty  as  a  phase  in  the  distribution 
of  wealth  we  are  compelled  to  take  into  account  those  who 
have  property  as  well  as  those  who  have  none.  No  view  of 
poverty  is  adequate  if  it  fails  to  take  into  account  its  rela- 
tion to  the  state  and  to  society  as  well  as  to  the  individual. 
Adequate  dealing  with  poverty,  therefore,  involves  constant 
attention  to  the  whole  system  of  property  and  to  tendencies 
among  its  forms.  The  aims  that  inspire  effort  toward  relief 
of  the  poor  involve  far-reaching  modification  of  the  institu- 
tions of  property  and  control  of  the  processes  of  production 
and  distribution  of  wealth  in  the  name  of  Christian  ideals. 
The  evolution  of  property  forms  has  removed  all  of  the 
physical  inconveniences  of  ownership.  Were  property  actu- 
ally confined  to  the  things  that  we  consume  in  living,  all  of 
the  ambitions  of  ownership  would  be  limited  by  our  capacity 
to  hold  and  protect  material  wealth.  If  there  were  no  such 
things  as  money  or  forms  of  credit  and  if  no  owner  could 
transfer  the  custody  of  things  owned,  to  others,  the  incon- 
veniences of  ownership  would  be  prohibitive. 

When  we  may  accumulate  money  as  a  symbol  of  things 
instead  of  the  things  themselves  we  escape  many  of  the  incon- 
veniences of  ownership.  But  money  should  circulate.  It  is 
impersonal,  good  in  the  hands  of  one  who  has  it.  It  may  be 
stolen  or  lost.  The  possession  of  it  in  any  quantity  would 
involve  much  fear  of  theft  and  incite  to  theft  if  the  fact  were 
known.  But  the  development  of  all  forms  of  borrowing 
such  as  notes,  bonds,  certificates  and  the  like  removes  the 


PROPERTY  97 

inconveniences  of  ownership  of  money  and  makes  wealth  much 
more  attractive.  In  the  forms  of  credit  it  becomes  personal, 
lucrative  and  convenient  to  own  and  safeguard.  The  modern 
passion  for  accumulation  and  the  enormous  valuation  now 
placed  upon  wealth  were  made  possible  and  inevitable 
through  the  development  of  infinitely  complicated  institu- 
tions of  credit.  The  ownership  and  safeguarding  of  vast 
wealth  has  become  extremiely  simple.  Property  has  become 
in  this  way  the  object  of  intense  universal  desire.  It  is  the 
depositary  of  indefinite  power,  key  to  mastery  over  life. 
The  aspirations,  ambitions,  valuations  of  property  in  the 
lives  of  those  who  own  it  tend  to  fix  their  philosophy  of  life, 
their  interpretations  of  religion  and  their  judgment  of  the 
poor.  Property  has  become  a  thing  apart.  It  produces  its 
own  philosophy,  its  own  outlook.  Instead  of  remaining  a 
phase  of  human  rights  it  has  taken  its  place  in  the  thought 
of  the  world  as  a  menace  to  those  rights. 

Paul  Bourget  remarks  in  one  of  his  works  that  we  shall 
think  as  we  live  unless  we  live  as  we  think.  Property  has 
not  obeyed  the  nobler  thinking  of  the  race  and  it  has  hurt 
the  spiritual  vision  of  life.  Since  it  has  not  obeyed  thinking, 
thinking  has  obeyed  it.  Our  Divine  Savior  hurled  many 
denunciations  against  those  whose  judgment  of  human  rela- 
tions was  colored  by  property  interests.  He  reaffirmed  the 
sanctity  of  human  rights  and  the  supremacy  of  humane  prin- 
ciples over  every  other  interest  in  the  world.  They  who  hear 
His  word  and  keep  it  aim  to  emancipate  themselves  from  the 
tyranny  of  property  thinking  and  seek  the  source  of  insight 
and  judgment  in  the  teaching  of  Christ.  They  who  think 
with  Christ  and  live  as  they  think  make  no  mistake  in  their 
judgment  and  they  understand  his  law  in  respect  of  the  poor. 

Capital  has  evolved  its  own  philosophy.  It  has  shaped 
ideals  and  has  stood  with  stern  resistance  against  movements 
which  would  curb  its  power  and  correct  its  vision  of  life.  The 
industrial,  political,  cultural,  social  and  journalistic  usur- 
pations of  capital  are  reflected  in  most  of  the  tragedies  that 
are  heaped  upon  the  lives  of  the  poor.  This  remains  true  in 


98  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

tendency  and  to  a  certain  extent  true  in  fact.  No  one  may 
overlook  the  benevolence  that  has  been  associated  with  much 
property  or  fail  to  honor  the  kindly  impulses  that  have  sur- 
vived its  urging.  In  spite  of  the  arctic  temperature  of  the 
economic  world,  endowments  of  every  kind,  colossal  sums 
devoted  to  charity  and  other  ideal  purposes  make  noble 
chapters  in  the  history  of  private  property.  But  the  law  of 
gravitation  in  the  property  world  remains  as  described  until 
checked  by  the  power  of  great  ideals  that  subject  it  to  rigid 
control.  Since  nearly  everything  that  is  done  systematically 
to  remedy  poverty  involves  some  kind  of  moral  or  legal  modi- 
fication of  property  rights  heretofore  recognized,  the  larger 
service  of  the  poor  is  accomplished  only  after  much  struggle. 
Life  has  become  so  complex ;  the  equilibrium  of  the  economic 
process  has  become  so  delicate  that  the  slightest  modification 
of  factors  in  industry  makes  its  influence  felt  throughout  the 
nation,  even  throughout  the  world. 

Since  the  poor  lack  the  qualities  that  make  for  success  in 
the  economic  struggle  their  poverty  becomes  a  factor  in  eco- 
nomic life.  They  represent  economic  inefficiency,  reduced 
powers  of  production,  reduced  powers  of  consumption  and  on 
the  other  hand  a  large  economic  cost  of  maintenance.  Those 
among  the  dependent  who  are  permanently  helpless  should 
have  assurance  of  relief  with  dignity,  assurance  and  peace. 
Those  who  can  be  made  economically  efficient,  aided  and 
guided  to  employment  or  trained  for  it,  may  need  transitory 
relief.  But  duty  toward  them  is  not  done  until  they  have 
been  prepared  for  their  tasks  in  life  and  protected  in  under- 
taking them.  One  of  the  noblest  aims  in  relief  is  to  make 
relief  unnecessary.  When  social  conditions  are  such  that 
the  weak  are  unable  to  control  the  conditions  of  employment 
or  are  made  to  suffer  unnecessarily  in  the  industrial  process 
or  from  social  arrangements,  the  apostle  of  charity  will  be 
found  fighting  to  improve  conditions  and  modify  institutions 
in  order  that  the  weak  may  be  made  strong  and  independent. 
There  is  not  a  point  in  all  of  the  complicated  processes  of  life 
that  is  foreign  to  the  efforts  of  charity  if  the  interests  of  the 


PEOPEETY  99 

poor  are  directly  or  indirectly  involved.  None  of  the  falla- 
cies, assumptions,  fancies  and  extravagances  of  property 
enjoy  immunity  against  the  claims  of  the  herald  of  charity 
who  comes  in  the  name  of  God  to  assert  His  law.  Whether 
the  spirit  of  charity  assert  itself  in  the  relief  and  prevention 
of  poverty  or  whether  it  is  seen  in  the  wider  movement  of 
social  reform  it  remains  for  all  time  and  in  all  circumstances 
the  spirit  of  the  law  of  Christ,  the  interpreter  to  man  of  the 
divine  relations  of  brotherhood  in  His  Kingdom. 

When  we  view  poverty  as  an  aspect  of  the  property  system, 
our  first  view  of  the  poor  represents  them  as  consumers. 
Eegardless  of  the  methods  by  which  property  is  distributed 
or  income  is  gained  the  poor  must  live.  The  food,  clothing 
and  shelter  of  which  they  have  need  must  be  provided.  All 
material  relief  must  keep  in  mind  a  minimum  standard  of 
living  and  insure  to  those  who  are  helpless  that  standard. 
So  long  as  we  confine  it  to  mere  existence  we  accomplish 
but  little.  The  standard  of  adequate  relief  must  satisfy  the 
reasonable  needs  of  the  poor  regardless  of  their  ability  or 
inability  to  become  producers  themselves.  This  is  a  phase 
of  the  literal  distribution  of  wealth  under  the  principle  of 
"giving,"  not  "getting" ;  under  the  motives  of  altruism,  not 
those  of  egoism.  It  is  our  duty  to  single  out  those  who  are 
entirely  helpless  and  provide  such  relief  in  a  humane  and 
intelligent  way.  It  is  our  duty  to  find  all  of  those  who  actu- 
ally or  in  prospect  may  become  either  entirely  or  partially 
able  to  support  themselves.  We  must  endeavor  either  to  find 
labor  or  to  furnish  training  which  will  bring  to  these  some 
degree  of  economic  efficiency.  In  this  way  we  are  called  upon 
to  be  interested  in  employment  service,  vocational  guidance 
or  vocational  training.  In  particular  we  meet  here  the  obli- 
gation to  direct  those  who  are  below  the  normal  standard  in 
health  or  mentality.  It  should  be  our  aim  further  to  bring 
the  weak  up  to  normal  standards  that  will  enable  them  to 
provide  for  themselves,  regain  their  independence  and  make 
charity  unnecessary  in  respect  of  them.  If  it  is  possible  to 
bring  them  still  farther  and  train  them  in  the  habits  of  thrift 


100  SOCIAL  MISSION"  OF  CHARITY 

and  foresight,  we  shall  enable  them  to  make  their  own  pro- 
visions against  the  harder  strains  of  life  associated  with  ill- 
ness, death  or  involuntary  idleness.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
that  the  first  savings  bank  was  founded  in  Scotland  in  1810 
in  order  to  conquer  pauperism  by  training  the  poor  in  habits 
of  industry  and  thrift. 

These  three  qualities  of  service  relate  directly  to  the  eco- 
nomic process  of  production,  distribution  and  consumption  of 
wealth.  To  that  extent  economic  axioms  must  be  respected 
and  the  exigencies  of  industry  must  be  taken  into  account. 
But  we  discover  here  that  moral  qualities  have  a  fundamental 
economic  as  well  as  spiritual  value.  Hence  we  are  required 
to  be  moral  teachers  as  well  as  industrial  guides  and  to  serve 
character  as  well  as  body.  Temperance,  the  sense  of  duty, 
intelligent  use  of  money,  the  habits  of  loyalty,  honesty  and 
self-control  are  fundamental.  But  the  development  of  these 
qualities  demands  normal  home  life,  decent  and  hope-inspir- 
ing conditions,  confidence  in  the  social  order,  effective  reli- 
gious teaching,  reasonable  protection  of  health  and  effective 
provisions  for  education.  Now  it  is  false  to  truth  and  unwise 
in  effect  to  separate  moral  training  from  spiritual  truth. 
Religion  is  called  upon,  therefore,  to  do  its  full  work  in  the 
wide  development  of  life  in  order  that  the  fullest  measure  of 
truth  and  protection  and  comforting  interpretation  of  the 
stern  facts  of  life,  may  be  assured.  Industry,  education, 
social  reform,  law  making  and  religion  must  work,  therefore, 
with  mutual  understanding  and  with  singleness  of  purpose 
if  we  are  to  marshal  our  resources  in  dealing  with  poverty 
which  remains  perhaps  for  all  time  the  most  searching  test 
of  progress.  Human  inequality  remains,  therefore,  a  perma- 
nent problem  for  all  charities.  The  control  of  the  competitive 
process  among  unequal s  must  be  aimed  at  with  strong  insist- 
ence. The  State  must  be  called  upon  increasingly  to  bring 
the  resources  of  the  law  to  the  mastery  of  conditions  that 
escape  all  other  control.  Home,  Church,  school,  must  be 
made  increasingly  effective  at  every  point.  Anything  short 
of  these  demands  delays  the  day  of  justice  and  baffles  the 
efforts  made  to  deal  effectively  with  poverty. 


CHAPTEK  IX 

WHO  IS  MY  NEIGHBOR 

WHEN  the  young  man  asked  Our  Lord  the  question  "Who 
is  my  neighbor  ?"  he  sought  a  definition.  He  had  been  told 
that  he  should  love  his  neighbor  as  himself  but  he  was  at  a 
loss  as  to  the  identity  of  the  neighbor.  In  reply  to  the  ques- 
tion Our  Lord  narrated  the  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan 
and  asked  "Who  was  neighbor  to  him  that  fell  among  the 
robbers  ?"  "He  that  showed  mercy,"  was  the  reply.  Where- 
upon Our  Lord  said,  "Go  and  do  thou  in  like  manner." 
When  we  undertake  to-day  to  show  mercy  to  our  neighbor  we 
are  at  a  loss  for  a  definition  that  will  guide  us  in  determin- 
ing the  neighbor  that  we  would  serve.  He  may  not  be  picked 
at  hazard.  We  may  not  show  mercy  in  a  thoughtless  man- 
ner. The  Good  Samaritan  was  confronted  by  no  complex- 
ities. He  was  guided  wisely  and  without  confusion.  In  our 
day,  however,  when  there  are  thousands  of  good  Samaritans 
who  wish  to  serve  from  whatsoever  motive  and  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  others  in  need  of  help  the  problem  becomes  difficult. 
When  society  is  divided  along  economic,  religious  and  race 
lines;  when  conflicting  philosophies  meet  in  the  service  of 
the  poor  and  the  utmost  of  our  endeavors  will  fail  of  what  is 
required,  careful  thought  and  thorough  organization  become 
necessary  to  our  endeavor  whose  aim  it  is  to  find  the  needy 
neighbor. 

The  law  of  love  is  imperative  and  universal  in  the  Chris- 
tian life.  The  law  of  service  prompted  by  love  is  conditioned 
on  our  resources.  The  legitimate  claims  of  duty,  efficiency 
and  development  on  our  time  and  means  and  sympathy  must 
be  respected.  The  fallacies  urged  upon  us  by  ease,  luxury, 
mistaken  ambition,  imaginary  needs  and  excessive  solicitudes 

101 


102  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

for  self-protection  must  be  recognized  and  conquered.  The 
claims  of  charity  relate  in  varying  degrees  to  the  resources 
left  available  for  the  reasonable  service  of  others  after  our 
own  legitimate  claims  have  met  their  satisfaction.  When  one 
has  arrived  at  a  Christian  judgment  of  these  claims  upon 
one's  resources,  one  is  called  upon  to  weigh  the  claims  of 
idealistic  interests.  Community  welfare,  religion,  education 
and  other  culture  interests  appeal  to  us  for  support  and  their 
successful  maintenance  depends  upon  our  generosity.  Devo- 
tion to  these  interests  is  praiseworthy  in  the  extreme,  but  it 
does  not  appear  to  excuse  us  from  the  specific  claims  of 
charity.  The  measurement  and  sanction  of  these  claims  are 
beyond  the  scope  of  this  study.  Assuming  that  they  are 
established  and  recognized  we  are  called  upon  to  undertake 
to  find  the  neighbors  to  whom  we  should  show  mercy. 

As  life  is  organized  those  of  approximately  the  same 
income  live  in  the  same  neighborhood.  The  rich  live  among 
the  rich.  The  well-to-do  live  among  their  own  kind.  The 
poor  tend  to  be  segregated  to  such  a  degree  that  the  needy 
know  only  the  needy.  While  common  experience  shows  us 
that  the  most  noble  instances  of  neighborly  service  are  found 
in  the  reciprocal  relations  of  the  poor,  these  are  exceptional. 
They  in  no  way  interfere  with  the  general  process  of  our 
definition.  This  tendency  to  distribute  population  according 
to  income  extends  so  far  that  we  find  more  or  less  exclusive 
circles  in  the  laboring  class  itself.  If  he  who  needs  me  is  my 
neighbor  in  the  Christian  sense,  when  I  live  among  those 
who  have  no  need  of  me  I  have  no  neighbors.  Were  I  to  live 
among  many  who  had  immediate  need  of  me  I  would  have 
so  many  neighbors  that  I  would  be  utterly  helpless  in  pres- 
ence of  them.  We  are  thus  enabled  to  eliminate  proximity  in 
attempting  to  find  our  neighbors. 

The  processes  of  life  perpetuate  this  condition.  The 
strong  know  only  the  strong  and  the  weak  know  only  the 
weak.  Friendships,  intermarriage,  acquaintanceship  and 
association  follow  along  these  lines  and  make  this  condition 
self-perpetuating.  Normal  social  relations  follow  the  plans 


WHO  IS  MY  NEIGHBOR  103 

fixed  by  income  and  culture.  Association  among  those  of 
different  income  and  culture  planes  occurs  only  by  exception. 
It  does  not  occur  frequently  enough  to  become  a  factor  in  our 
thought.  There  is  fortunately  a  certain  progress  upward 
from  lower  to  higher  social  and  cultural  planes  found  among 
those  who  are  exceptionally  gifted  in  mind  or  character.  We 
pretend  to  be  surprised,  if  not  shocked,  when  one  marries 
"beneath"  one's  social  station.  In  fact,  we  do  not  know  our 
neighbors  whatsoever  our  social  class.  Complete  indifference 
and  lack  of  all  information  are  not  only  possible  but  probable 
among  the  inhabitants  of  a  modern  city  block.  Locality  fails 
altogether  then  to  indicate  the  neighbor  whom  we  would  serve 
according  to  the  command  of  Christ. 

Since  we  are  compelled  to  live  in  close  physical  proximity 
with  large  numbers  of  persons  civilization  has  developed  the 
forms  of  conventional  privacy  by  which  we  protect  ourselves 
against  undue  invasion  of  our  lives  by  others.  Those  who 
are  near  us  physically  are  kept  at  a  distance  socially.  Life 
would  be  scarcely  possible  in  a  modern  city  except  for  the 
protection  that  we  gain  through  respect  for  privacy.  The 
customs  of  privacy  prevent  strangers  from  speaking  to  one 
another,  prevent  us  from  asking  impudent  personal  ques- 
tions, forbid  us  to  look  at  the  book  or  the  letter  in  the  hands 
of  those  near  us  in  a  street  car.  The  more  closely  we 
approach  one  another  the  more  insistent  are  the  obligations 
of  privacy  in  order  that  we  may  live  at  all.  The  cultured 
man  or  woman  holds  curiosity  about  others  in  complete  con- 
trol. The  result  must  be  a  shrinkage  in  human  sympathy, 
cautious  approach  to  social  intercourse  with  others,  a  mental 
habit  that  leads  us  to  mind  our  own  business  and  not  to  inter- 
fere without  reason  in  the  affairs  of  others.  Thus  the  free 
and  spontaneous  appeal  of  sympathy  and  interest  in  one 
another  and  of  attention  to  one  another's  affairs  is  practically 
forbidden.  Even  among  the  poor  there  is  a  form  of  self- 
respect,  an  appreciation  of  privacy  that  leads  them  to  hide 
their  distress  against  the  inquiry  of  those  who  would  serve 
them.  One  of  the  tasks  of  the  friends  of  the  poor  is  to  find 


104  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHAKITY 

out  how  to  serve  these  without  giving  offense,  without  break- 
ing down  that  refined  self-respect  which  is  one  of  the  flowers 
of  culture.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  many  carry  the  prin- 
ciple of  respect  for  privacy  too  far  and  lose  interest  in  seek- 
ing the  neighbor  who  may  be  in  need  of  mercy. 

Those  who  enjoy  the  finding  of  fault  with  social  workers 
express  their  sarcasm  by  calling  these  "busybodies,"  "med- 
dlers" and  the  like.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  problem  here 
hinted  at  is  one  of  the  most  delicate  to  be  met  in  the  service 
of  the  poor.  We  do  feel  warranted  in  asking  them  questions 
concerning  intimate  personal  life  which  we  would  never  dare 
to  ask  of  others.  And  yet  information  of  this  kind  is  neces- 
sary if  we  are  to  be  of  assistance  at  all.  The  inertia  of  the 
poor  prevents  them  from  helping  themselves.  The  assistance 
that  comes  to  them  comes  from  a  class  alien  in  social  standing, 
association  and  experience.  The  nobler  the  type  among  the 
poor  the  more  delicate  is  their  sense  of  privacy  and  their 
reluctance  to  see  that  privacy  invaded.  Much  of  the  argu- 
ment made  against  so-called  systematic  charity  rests  upon 
the  assumption  that  oifice  records  are  an  unpardonable  inva- 
sion of  privacy.  At  the  same  time,  many  of  those  who  are 
careless  as  to  the  results  of  their  work  among  the  poor  are 
apt  to  hide  faulty  methods  behind  an  exaggerated  alleged 
respect  for  the  feelings,  that  is  for  the  sense  of  privacy  that 
the  standards  of  civilization  permit  us  to  cherish. 

Proximity  does  not  define  neighbor  for  us.  The  customs 
of  conventional  privacy  interfere  greatly  with  the  processes 
by  which  we  might  find  and  serve  our  neighbor.  One  might 
be  led  to  conclude  then  that  contact  in  the  organized  service 
of  life  would  furnish  the  definition  of  neighbor  whom  we 
would  love  and  serve.  But  we  are  disappointed  again.  Not 
even  the  essential  service  of  life  that  brings  us  into  close 
contact  with  one  another  serves  this  purpose. 

Life  is  fractioned.  One  life  touches  another  in  one  way 
but  the  relations  are  confined  to  that  one  contact.  No  one  can 
come  closer  to  us  than  the  servant  in  a  home.  She  conies  from 
the  weaker  social  class.  Only  too  often  has  she  need  of  neigh- 


WHO  IS  MY  NEIGHBOK  105 

borly  service  in  the  Christian  sense  whether  it  relate  to  phys- 
ical, mental  or  moral  distress.  But  conventional  privacy 
places  a  barrier  between  her  and  those  whom  she  serves.  She 
does  her  work,  receives  her  wages  and  goes  her  way.  Now 
and  then  kindly  human  relations  are  established  but  the 
modern  type  of  servant  possesses  a  degree  of  dignity  and 
shows  an  insistence  on  privacy  and  independence  that  keeps 
her  mistress  in  her  place.  The  newsboy,  the  milkman,  the 
messenger  boy,  the  drivers  of  the  grocery  and  laundry  wagons 
who  came  to  our  doors  daily  and  minister  to  our  recurring 
wants  are  in  many,  if  not  all,  cases  in  need  of  some  kind  of 
neighborly  interest  and  service  relating  to  either  health,  home 
life  or  wage  conditions.  And  yet  we  do  not  know  their 
names.  We  know  nothing  about  them.  No  human  relations 
are  created  between  them  and  us  although  the  orderly  move- 
ment of  our  intimate  daily  life  is  conditioned  on  their  serv- 
ice. Life  is  fractioned  here  and  relations  remain  entirely 
impersonal. 

Nor  can  the  condition  be  otherwise.  Each  one  of  those 
who  render  service  of  this  kind  comes  into  touch  with  a  mul- 
titude of  homes.  Attempt  on  the  part  of  any  one  to  engage 
them  in  conversation  would  disorganize  their  service  and 
disrupt  the  neighborhood.  Not  choice  but  the  fixed  demands 
of  life  force  these  relations  upon  us,  bring  us  together  in 
economic  intimacy  and  separate  us  in  complete  social 
estrangement.  And  again,  we  ourselves  come  into  touch  with 
so  many  of  these  in  our  daily  life  that  it  would  be  imprac- 
tical for  us  to  attempt  to  take  a  human  interest  in  every  one 
of  them.  Unless  we  discipline  our  sympathies  we  shall 
scarcely  survive  at  all.  Thus  we  gain  no  assistance  in  seek- 
ing the  definition  of  neighbor  from  the  economic  services 
rendered  to  us  in  the  most  direct  way  daily  by  representatives 
of  the  weaker  social  classes,  many  of  whom  are  probably  in 
need  of  friendly  service. 

We  might  expect  the  bond  of  industrial  employment  to 
have  some  effect  in  determining  Christian  relations  between 
strong  and  weak,  in  defining  the  neighbor  in  the  friendly 


106  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHAEITY 

serving  of  whom  the  employer  might  obey  the  obligations  of 
Christian  charity.  But  again  we  are  disappointed.  The 
mental  outlook  of  the  employer  is  primarily  economic.  He 
belongs  to  his  class.  He  thinks  and  feels  with  his  class. 
That  class  embraces  a  philosophy  and  follows  a  practice  that 
result  generally  in  the  fractioning  of  life  again.  Relations 
remain  impersonal.  Labor  is  performed.  Wages  are  paid. 
Relations  are  ended.  The  historical  antagonisms  that  have 
developed  between  employer  and  employed  so  dominate  the 
mental  attitudes  of  both  that  the  holier  relation  of  neighbor 
seems  unbusinesslike  and  out  of  place.  The  competitive 
struggle  dominates  the  outlook  of  the  employer.  As  the  num- 
ber of  those  who  work  for  him  increases  he  takes  refuge  to 
his  economic  advantage  against  the  human  sympathy  that 
might  be  his  undoing.  Furthermore,  the  typical  modern 
employer  is  ordinarily  not  an  owner.  He  is  rather  a  man- 
ager. Generally  speaking,  the  owners  of  an  industry  do 
not  manage  it  and  the  managers  of  an  industry  do  not  own  it. 

The  scattered  owners  who  enjoy  dividends  have  no  knowl- 
edge of  conditions  under  which  business  is  conducted.  So 
long  as  generosity  of  impulse  increases  cost  of  operation  and 
reduces  dividends,  affects  credit  and  the  values  of  stock, 
business  rules  sympathy  and  generosity  out.  A  broad  review 
of  our  industrial  history  shows  the  horrible  and  inhuman 
extremes  to  which  separation  of  employer  and  employed 
have  led.  Capital  has  asked  labor  to  carry  uncompensated 
the  frightful  risks  to  life,  to  limb  and  to  health  that  have 
been  associated  with  the  feverish  development  of  industrial 
processes.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  industrial  accidents 
that  resulted  in  death ;  hundreds  of  thousands  of  instances  of 
occupational  hazards  that  robbed  working  men  of  their 
health,  deprived  families  of  their  breadwinners ;  robbed  chil- 
dren of  their  parents  and  hurled  helpless,  maimed  and 
broken,  men,  women  and  children  into  the  pit  of  dependency 
declare  the  failure  of  Christian  relationship,  sympathy  and 
love  between  employer  and  employed. 

We  may  take  into  account  all  of  the  types  of  noble-minded 


WHO  IS  MY  NEIGHBOR  107 

employers  that  have  endeavored  to  foster  human  relations 
with  employees.  We  may  take  into  account  all  of  the 
instances  wherein  the  distress  of  the  weak  is  due  to  their 
own  fault,  sin,  treachery  and  indifference.  After  making 
most  generous  allowance  in  both  directions  the  facts  of  our 
industrial  history  still  write  a  full  indictment  of  the  strong 
ones  of  the  earth.  They  have  builded  an  economic  empire 
that  gave  them  imperial  sway  over  uncounted  thousands  of 
lives  which  they  used  with  pagan  indifference  to  the  claims  of 
humanity  and  Christianity.  Much  of  this  is  due  to  the 
exactions  of  the  competitive  system  and  the  mental  outlook 
that  resulted  from  them.  Much  of  it  is  due  to  general  con- 
ditions which  the  single  employer  could  scarcely  master. 
Whatever  the  circumstances  the  harvest  of  disaster,  death, 
disease  and  dependency  that  resulted  challenges  the  human 
and  Christian  sympathy  of  the  world.  While  employers  in 
individual  cases  find  it  possible  to  be  neighbors  in  the  fullest 
Bens©  of  the  term  to  those  who  labor  for  them,  the  bond  of 
employment  has  not  operated  and  does  not  operate  generally 
to  unite  strong  and  weak  in  bonds  of  Christian  love  and 
kindly  service. 

We  might  expect  the  bond  of  faith  to  define  neighbor  for 
us.  Religion  continues  to  teach  the  doctrine  and  foster  the 
spirit  of  the  charity  of  Christ.  But  every  one  of  the  factors 
already  mentioned  interferes  in  one  way  or  another  with  the 
social  relations  of  Christians.  The  complexities  and  man- 
dates of  social  organization,  the  social  cleavage  between 
strong  and  weak,  between  cultured  and  uncultured  follow  us 
into  the  house  of  God  itself  and  affect  mind  and  sympathy 
in  varying  degrees.  While  religious  charities,  particularly 
those  of  the  Catholic  Church,  have  done  wonderful  things  in 
the  way  of  service,  these  charities  represent  a  reaction  made 
necessary  because  the  bond  of  faith  does  not  automatically 
and  directly  define  neighbor  for  us. 

None  of  the  social  bonds  described  have  of  themselves 
operated  to  furnish  automatically  definitions  of  neighbor 
which  enable  strong  and  weak  to  cultivate  the  spirit  of  love 


108 

and  service  that  stands  out  in  unparalleled  grandeur  in  the 
ideal  of  Christian  life.  Again  we  must  allow  for  exceptions. 
But  these  do  not  impair  the  truth  of  the  general  statement 
as  made.  We  are  confronted  in  this  way  by  social  classes 
and  class  estrangement,  unequal  distribution  of  strength  and 
weakness,  lack  of  normal  definition  of  neighbor  by  the  ordi- 
nary processes  of  life.  But  the  law  of  Christ's  love  has  not 
remained  inoperative.  Christian  sympathy  has  been  suffi- 
ciently strong  in  Christian  hearts  to  do  in  one  way  what  has 
been  found  impossible  in  another.  In  this  way  the  relation 
of  neighbor  in  the  Christian  life  has  been  made  vicarious 
and  service  has  become  indirect  It  has  become  necessary 
to  seek  out  the  poor.  They  have  been  found  in  such  multi- 
tudes and  in  so  many  types  that  their  condition  has  offered 
a  challenge  to  Christian  sympathy  and  the  intelligence  of 
the  world. 

Poverty  has  become  so  complex  and  the  helplessness  of 
the  poor  is  so  many  sided  that  the  service  of  them  has 
become  exacting  and  technical.  We  have  been  compelled, 
therefore,  to  specialize  in  the  service  of  them  and  to  become 
systematic  and  thoughtful  in  that  service.  The  relief  organ- 
ization which  assembles  those  who  are  skillful  in  the  service 
of  the  poor  and  gathers  the  resources  available  for  this  serv- 
ice represents  the  combined  typical  Christian  sympathies  of 
the  community  and  gives  promise  of  most  effective  neighborly 
service  of  the  poor.  We  turn,  therefore,  to  the  modern  relief 
organization  for  the  answer  to  our  question,  <rWho  is  my 
neighbor?"  We  give  our  personal  service  and  our  means 
to  the  organization  and  ask  it  to  administer  these  for  the 
most  effective  service  of  the  poor.  Service  becomes  to  a 
great  extent  vicarious  and  indirect. 

Whenever  it  is  possible  for  one  who  is  strong  to  find  a 
family  or  a  person  in  need  of  whatsoever  kind,  the  defini- 
tion of  neighbor  is  admirably  supplied  by  the  circumstances. 
This  will  remain  for  all  time  the  ideal  relation.  In  as  far 
as  the  service  is  given  intelligently  and  with  sympathetic 
personal  touch  nothing  is  left  to  be  desired.  But  there  are 


WHO  IS  MY  NEIGHBOR  109 

so  many  of  the  poor  who  cannot  hope  for  such  direct  and 
intimate  relationship  with  the  strong  and  there  are  so  many 
of  the  strong  to  whom  the  ordinary  course  of  life  does  not 
make  known  particular  instances  of  need  that  can  be  ade- 
quately met  in  this  way  that  we  may  not  represent  this 
method  as  either  adequate  or  satisfactory. 

When  we  look  upon  poverty  as  the  plight  of  the  individual 
or  family  we  find  dependents  in  such  numbers  that  organiza- 
tion of  relief  work  becomes  imperative.  As  we  gain  insight 
into  the  forces  that  have  made  them  dependent  and  as  we 
gain  understanding  of  the  processes  that  kept  them  so,  we  find 
need  of  foresight,  thought  and  system.  It  is  difficult  to  see 
how  any  lover  of  the  poor  can  doubt  this.  If  we  look  upon 
poverty  as  a  plight  of  society  rather  than  of  the  individual 
we  find  it  necessary  to  organize  the  forces  that  can  act  upon 
society,  strengthen  its  conscience  and  remedy  conditions.  If 
we  look  upon  poverty  as  a  phase  of  injustice  and  a  plight  of 
the  State  we  find  need  again  of  concerted  action,  unceasing 
effort  and  sacrifice  in  order  to  adjust  the  institutions  of  law 
and  the  processes  of  its  administration  to  the  requirements 
of  the  poor.  From  whatsoever  standpoint  we  look  upon  the 
problem  we  find  organization,  insight,  training,  system  and 
principle  necessary  in  order  to  restore  relations  between 
strong  and  weak  which  will  temper  the  former  and  encourage 
the  latter  in  the  spirit  of  Christian  love. 

Organization,  training  and  system  are  required  in  order 
that  we  may  find  our  neighbor  and  serve  him  well.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  reasons  alleged  there  are  others  which  it  may  be 
well  to  mention. 

The  law  of  Christian  charity  rests  in  a  supernatural  atti- 
tude, expresses  itself  in  an  impulse  and  reaches  its  termina- 
tion in  a  service.  Insistence  upon  truth,  impulse  and  motive 
without  regard  to  outcome  would  be  a  mistake,  an  offense 
at  least  against  the  exalted  dignity  of  love.  If  love  may  lead 
parents  to  err  in  dealing  with  their  children,  love  may  lead 
the  strong  to  err  in  dealing  with  the  weak.  Giving  to  a 
neighbor  and  serving  him  hurriedly,  thoughtlessly  and  with- 


110  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

out  intelligent  attention  cannot  be  the  fine  flower  of  Chris- 
tion  Charity.  We  are  compelled  to  discipline  our  love  in 
order  that  we  may  serve  and  not  harm  the  poor.  This  is 
true  in  all  cases  but  notably  true  in  these  days. 

The  tendency  to  insist  upon  motive  without  due  regard  to 
outcome  in  dealing  with  the  poor  is  aggravated  somewhat 
by  the  habit  of  over-idealizing  them.  By  first  intention  pity 
and  love  lead  us  to  see  in  them  only  their  suffering.  We 
resent  the  insinuation  that  there  may  be  among  them  trick- 
sters, deceivers,  sinful  men  and  women,  bold,  defiant  and 
tricky  children,  those  who  are  willing  to  trade  on  our  sympa- 
thy and  lie  and  cheat  to  gain  their  purposes.  Again,  we  are 
disposed  not  to  think  that  the  poor  suffer  the  penalties  of 
ignorance  and  bad  judgment.  When  our  sympathies  are 
aroused  our  critical  habits  retire.  Love  prefers  to  live  in  the 
present  and  not  to  take  long  outlooks.  It  is  made  to  appear 
cold,  inhuman  and  calculating,  to  favor  investigation,  to  dis- 
tinguish between  worthy  and  unworthy  poor,  to  serve  the 
former  with  care  and  the  latter  with  sternness.  Now  train- 
ing, system,  method  are  intended  to  meet  these  problems; 
to  overcome  the  difficulties  of  multitudes,  to  seek  out  all  who 
suffer  and  serve  them  well ;  to  seek  out  the  unworthy  and  deal 
with  them  as  they  deserve,  and  above  all  to  protect  the  poor 
against  the  mistakes  of  their  friends  whether  trained  or 
untrained. 


CHAPTEE  X 

PRINCIPLES    IN    BELIEF 

THE  principles  that  ought  to  guide  us  in  finding  and  serv- 
ing our  neighbor  as  the  Christian  law  of  life  requires  are 
indicated  by  the  factors  in  the  situation  which  confronts  us. 
The  Good  Samaritan  saw,  felt,  served  and  remembered. 
To-day  there  are  thousands  of  good  Samaritans  and  tens  of 
thousands  of  victims  of  poverty.  We  must  add  to  the  duties 
enumerated  that  of  thinking  and  managing.  The  relations 
among  the  good  Samaritans  must  be  thought  out  in  order  that 
the  full  strength  of  society's  resources  may  be  brought  to 
bear  upon  the  full  range  of  the  problems  of  poverty. 
Although  the  poor  are  counted  in  multitudes  it  is  extremely 
difficult  to  have  accurate  information  about  them,  to  gain 
insight  into  the  implications  of  their  poverty,  to  adapt  serv- 
ice to  need  with  intelligent  kindness  and  to  master  the  forces 
that  prostrate  our  dependents.  Hence  there  is  profound  need 
of  thinking  concerning  the  poor.  We  must  investigate  pov- 
erty, measure  its  extent  and  classify  its  kinds.  So  long  as 
any  of  the  poor  are  overlooked  the  work  of  the  good  samari- 
tan  is  not  complete.  After  gaining  knowledge  of  facts  we 
must  by  thinking  find  out  what  they  mean.  Conditions  can- 
not guide  us  until  we  interpret  or  understand  them.  Upon 
our  understanding  of  the  forces  in  poverty  and  the  full  mean- 
ing of  its  facts  we  must  base  thinking,  develop  methods, 
standards  and  policies.  We  must  interpret  past  and  present 
experience,  compare  results,  recognize  our  failures  and  set 
forth  full  knowledge  of  our  vindicated  wisdom  in  the  service 
of  the  poor.  Furthermore  in  these  days  of  conflicting  social 
philosophies  and  currents  that  run  counter  to  Christian 
ideals,  we  must  by  thinking  declare  the  Christian  ideals  of 

111 


112  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

service,  maintaining  its  spiritual  motive  in  full  vigor  and 
holding  intangible  compensations  of  God's  Kingdom  before 
the  minds  of  those  who  serve  the  poor  for  the  love  of  Christ/ 

The  relief  organization  assembles  many  good  Samaritans 
and  coordinates  their  efforts.  It  pools  the  wisdom,  impulses, 
and  experiences  of  many  in  one  fund,  available  in  kindly 
ministration  of  the  poor.  The  principles  that  are  now  set 
forth  are  presented  as  applying  to  the  relief  organization 
primarily  since  it  is  representative.  Poverty  indicates  not 
only  material  want  but  also  conditions  of  body,  of  mind,  of 
character  and  of  social  outlook  which  are  more  stubborn  and 
determining  than  physical  need  can  be.  As  the  climate  of  a 
country  will  explain  in  general  the  health  of  its  population 
but  not  that  of  any  one  individual,  the  atmosphere  of  poverty 
reveals  the  operation  of  general  forces  and  results  among 
the  poor  without  necessarily  explaining  the  poverty  of  any 
particular  person.  Keeping  in  mind  then  the  fact  that  relief 
organizations  as  a  whole  deal  with  poverty  as  not  only  the 
plight  of  the  individual  but  also  of  society  and  of  the  State 
and  Christianity,  we  are  called  upon  to  formulate  principles 
that  apply  to  them,  and  concern  in  a  less  marked  manner  indi- 
viduals who  may  do  much  relief  work  alone. 

Divergent  views  are  found  among  the  good  Samaritans. 
They  are  found  among  Catholic  good  Samaritans.  Many  of 
these  differences  can  be  reconciled  to  the  advantage  of  the 
poor  when  care  is  taken  to  understand  points  of  view,  facts 
and  processes  in  relief  work. 

Over-idealism  must  be  avoided  in  every  form  of  service  of 
the  poor.  Idealism  relates  to  ends  rather  than  to  means. 
It  is  a  mistake  to  clothe  the  poor  in  a  halo  that  sets  them 
apart  in  the  world  as  in  enjoyment  of  peculiar  exemption 
from  ignoble  traits  and  indulgently  excuses  them  from  the 
law  of  effort  and  the  exercise  of  will  that  condition  human 
growth  of  every  kind.  There  are  noble  and  ignoble,  honor- 
able and  tricky,  shrewd  and  dull,  candid  and  indirect  men, 
women,  and  children  among  the  poor  as  there  are  in  every 


PRINCIPLES  IN  BELIEF  113 

other  circle  of  life.  We  may  put  the  halo  above  service  as 
indicating  the  mind  of  God,  but  we  must  deal  with  the  poor 
as  we  find  them  in  temperament,  character,  outlook  and 
habit.  When  Our  Lord  placed  the  service  of  them  very  near 
to  His  Divine  Heart  He  lifted  them  above  none  of  the  limi- 
tations of  ordinary  life. 

There  is  danger  of  excessive  idealism  in  the  belief  that 
poverty  can  be  exterminated  and  that  fundamental  social 
reorganization  with  that  in  mind  is  a  reasonable  aim.  This 
is  the  mistake  of  movements  and  philosophies  that  belong  to 
the  extreme  radical  group  of  social  activities.  The  most 
practical  touch  of  wisdom  in  the  Encyclical  of  Leo  the  XIII 
is  that  which  advises  intelligent  patience  with  the  limitations 
of  life.  On  the  other  hand,  one  must  avoid  the  gloomy  view 
that  practically  nothing  can  be  accomplished  among  the  poor 
except  the  relief  of  their  material  wants.  This  view  mis- 
directs efforts,  hurts  the  poor  infinitely  and  robs  their  friends 
of  nearly  all,  if  not  of  all,  practical  wisdom.  It  is  a  view 
which  rests  on  faulty  understanding  of  the  facts  of  poverty 
and  of  the  laws  of  social  and  individual  growth.  All  ideals 
require  management.  When  one  is  too  near  to  them  or  too 
remote  from  them  one  is  seriously  hurt.  Common  sense, 
which  is  nothing  other  than  objective  judgment,  prevents  us 
from  attempting  the  impossible  and  from  neglecting  the 
possible  in  social  service.  Dickens  gives  us  in  "Bleak  House" 
a  striking  lesson  when  he  gathers  at  the  side  of  the  dead  baby 
in  the  bricklayer's  miserable  home,  Ada  and  Esther,  who 
had  no  world  vision  but  loved  the  poor  and  knew  how  to  help 
and  comfort  them,  and  Mrs.  Pardiggle,  who  was  impersonal, 
philosophical,  pompous  and  useless.  It  is  no  less  a  mistake 
to  see  too  much  than  to  see  too  little  in  working  for  the  poor. 
Standards  that  are  too  exacting  are  quite  as  faulty  as  stand- 
ards that  are  too  low  in  social  service. 

Much  harm  is  done  among  good  Samaritans  who  drift  into 
arbitrary  views  of  poverty,  which  result  largely  from  temper- 
ament, preference  and  limitations.  Real  self-discipline  is 
necessary  if  one  is  to  be  emancipated  from  such  tyrannies 


114  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

and  is  to  deal  with  the  poor  in  the  light  of  actual  informa- 
tion gathered,  sifted  and  tested  by  the  ordinary  methods  of 
intelligent  observation.  There  are  many  assumptions  float- 
ing around  in  the  world  that  do  great  harm  to  the  service  of 
the  poor.  To  assume,  for  instance,  that  the  poor  exist  in 
order  that  the  rich  may  have  occasion  to  exercise  certain 
virtues  toward  these;  to  assume  that  the  poor  are  entirely 
to  blame  for  their  poverty  or  not  to  blame  at  all ;  to  assume 
that  they  are  born  to  their  lot  and  should  not  be  disturbed  by 
aspiration  for  better  things  cannot  fail  to  work  disaster  upon 
both  strong  and  weak.  There  is  no  other  field  of  human 
endeavor  wherein  painstaking  observation,  freedom  from 
bias,  docility  of  mind  and  discipline  of  purpose  are  so  neces- 
sary as  in  working  for  the  poor.  Expecting  too  much  from 
them  is  as  harmful  as  expecting  too  little. 

There  are  four  distinct  classes  of  persons  to  be  kept  in 
mind  in  discussing  the  relations  of  the  strong  toward  the 
weak.  The  first  class  is  made  up  of  those  who  know  nothing 
or  practically  nothing  about  poverty.  They  have  wealth,  cul- 
ture and  leadership.  They  are  remote  from  all  conscious 
contact  with  the  poor.  The  circle  of  life  is  drawn  for  them 
and  the  poor  are  excluded  from  it.  Our  task  here  is  to  force 
information  into  these  circles,  to  spread  knowledge  concern- 
ing the  facts  of  poverty  with  such  vigor  and  effect  as  to 
force  upon  them  the  information  which  ordinarily  conditions 
intelligent  love  of  the  poor.  This  is  a  problem  of  pub- 
licity, of  propaganda  by  information.  It  is  fundamental  in 
dealing  with  poverty  as  a  problem  of  society  and  of  the 
State.  There  may  be  found  in  these  circles  certain  forms 
of  vague  sympathy,  a  certain  willingness  to  give  money  that 
in  some  undetermined  way  will  go  to  the  poor.  But  the 
strong  will  never  have  any  understanding  of  the  laws  of 
Christian  life  and  the  responsibility  of  their  culture  and 
power  until  knowledge  of  the  elementary  facts  and  general 
conditions  is  forced  upon  them.  It  is  not  altogether  uncom- 
mon to  find  employers  who  have  been  utterly  ignorant  of 
most  distressing  facts  in  connection  with  the  lower  types  of 


PRINCIPLES  TN  RELIEF  115 

labor  employed  by  them.  Only  when  the  strong  are  strong 
enough  to  yield  their  strength  will  all  be  strong.  Only  when 
the  weak  are  redeemed  from  misery,  fear  and  degradation 
may  the  strong  hope  for  the  approving  benediction  of  the 
God  of  love. 

There  is  another  class  who  have  sufficient  knowledge  of  the 
facts  of  poverty  to  serve  all  useful  purposes.  But  they  judge 
these  facts  in  the  light  of  mistaken  philosophy  and  thereby 
exempt  themselves  from  any  obligation  to  act  in  the  circum- 
stances. Such  persons  hold,  for  instance,  that  the  poor  are 
chiefly  to  blame  for  their  distress,  that  poverty  is  a  social 
status  in  which  the  poor  should  be  contented,  that  they  them- 
selves as  custodians  of  wealth  and  power  administer  wealth 
for  industrial  and  social  progress  as  they  will  and  not  as  the 
spirit  of  Christ  dictates  and  that  contributions  for  the  relief 
of  urgent  suffering  fulfill  their  duty.  The  problem  here  is 
that  of  awakening  conscience,  of  correcting  philosophy  and 
imagination,  of  teaching  the  larger  social  and  Christian 
obligations  of  life  in  view  of  its  solidarity. 

There  is  another  class  whose  members  obey  the  principles 
of  Christian  wisdom  and  the  impulses  of  Christian  charity. 
They  are  sympathetic,  alert  and  intelligent.  They  know 
their  duty  and  aim  to  do  it.  From  this  class  we  recruit  that 
noble  army  of  good  Samaritans  whose  intelligence,  generosity 
and  even  consecration  impart  a  tone  of  moral  and  spiritual 
grandeur  to  their  work.  From  these  ranks  come  all  types  of 
relief  organizations.  Here  we  find  scholars,  wealthy  men 
and  women,  priests,  Sisters,  philanthropists,  social  workers 
in  thousands;  good  Samaritans  all  who  face  their  simplest 
tasks  with  courage  and  patient  zeal.  From  among  these  we 
single  out  as  of  present  concern  all  representatives  of  organ- 
ized Catholic  effort  on  behalf  of  the  poor;  communities  of 
Sisters  and  of  Brothers,  priests,  bishops,  laymen  and  women, 
all  of  whom  seek  their  inspiration  from  Jesus  Christ,  measure 
their  efforts  by  the  standard  of  His  law,  sustain  by  their 
example  and  teaching  the  spiritual  dignity  of  service. 

All  of  these  represent  an  initiative  that  declares  the  vital- 


116  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

ity  of  the  charity  of  Christ  in  His  Church.  Their  activity 
on  the  whole  results  not  from  the  decree  of  Church  author- 
ity but  from  the  operation  of  Divine  grace  and  a  noble  will. 
They  are  called  upon  to  maintain  what  is  noble  and  perma- 
nent in  the  traditions  of  the  Church  and  to  seek  out  from  the 
results  of  scholarly  effort,  experience  and  thought,  everything 
that  is  wholesome  in  all  modern  service  of  the  poor  and  enrich 
their  own  service  by  it.  They  receive  from  Christ  the  best 
in  motive  and  the  noblest  in  moral  dignity.  It  is  their  privi- 
lege, better,  perhaps  their  duty,  to  find  the  best  in  human 
effort  and  bring  them  together  in  the  service  of  the  poor. 

The  service  of  the  poor  is  an  organic  part  of  the  Christian 
life. 

The  Church  accepts  the  teaching  and  example  of  Jesus 
Christ  as  fundamental  in  determining  values  in  this  service. 
It  is  amazing  to  note  how  intimately  Our  Divine  Lord  iden- 
tified Himself  with  the  poor,  how  expressly  He  commended 
them  to  the  strong,  with  what  affectionate  understanding  He 
exerted  His  Divine  power  in  their  behalf.  All  of  this  is  an 
aspect  of  spiritual  discipline  of  self-seeking.  Men  should 
love  one  another  in  the  unity  of  grace  and  faith.  That  love 
should  express  itself  in  the  strong  by  their  service  of 
the  weak.  Selfishness,  self-seeking,  social  exclusiveness, 
shrunken  human  sympathies,  inordinate  love  of  wealth  and 
power  are  made  hideous  in  the  glow  of  Divine  Revelation. 
Christ's  vision  is  that  of  a  united  humanity,  the  bond  of 
which  is  love.  Strength  is  sanctified  by  serving  weakness. 
Its  religion  is  vain  unless  it  be  prompted  to  this  service. 
Wealth  is  sanctified  by  serving  poverty.  Health  is  sanctified 
by  serving  disease.  Virtue  is  further  sanctified  by  serving 
sin.  The  free  are  sanctified  by  serving  the  enslaved.  Learn- 
ing is  sanctified  by  serving  ignorance. 

Destiny  in  God,  brotherhood  with  fellowmen,  the  sanctity 
of  human  personality,  the  trusteeship  of  strength,  the  law 
of  surplus  service,  the  primacy  of  spiritual  values  and  rela- 
tions over  all  other  interests  in  life  are  foundation  truths 


PKINCIPLES  IN  BELIEF  117 

upon  which,  the  structure  of  Christian  life  must  be  reared. 
Love  of  fellowmen,  reverence  for  them,  service,  disciplined 
valuations  result  directly  from  these  essential  truths  and 
become  law  to  them  that  believe  in  Jesus  Christ.  Whether 
weakness  be  of  the  body  or  of  the  mind  or  of  the  soul,  its 
claim  upon  strength  is  sanctioned  forever.  Love  of  ease,  love 
of  power,  love  of  wealth,  are  subjected  to  the  higher  law. 
They  take  on  a  forbidding  ugliness  in  the  world  of  the  soul. 
Self-effacement,  thoughtfulness,  service,  unity  and  kindli- 
ness are  essential  humanities,  the  social  outcome  of  brother- 
hood rooted  in  Jesus  Christ.  Personal  service  of  the  poor  in 
whatsoever  manner  becomes  almost  sacramental,  an  outward 
sign  of  inner  grace,  proof  that  the  soul  has  heard  and  obeyed 
the  law  of  love. 

The  impulse  to  associate  personal  love  of  the  poor  with 
abiding  faith  in  Christ  is  so  thoroughly  organized  into  the 
historical  conscience  of  the  Church  that  she  meets  with  deep 
regret  all  tendencies  that  would  secularize  the  service  of  the 
poor  or  make  it  a  merely  natural  phase  of  social  progress. 
Emphasis  on  the  spiritual  nature  of  charity  as  both  attitude 
and  action  is  in  no  direct  conflict  whatsoever  with  so-called 
scientific  or  systematic  charity.  The  Church  must  use 
science  and  system  to  the  utmost  in  doing  the  work  to  which 
she  feels  called.  The  motive  in  supernatural  charity  is 
static  but  the  methods  change.  The  impulses  of  Christian 
service  operate  through  the  terms  and  relations  of  their 
time.  When  science  and  system  isolate  the  service  of  the  poor 
and  see  it  in  merely  a  natural  phase  of  social  progress,  it 
introduces  a  quality  of  motive  and  a  tone  that  are  foreign  to 
the  supernatural.  It  is  not  sufficient  in  the  Christian  view 
to  recognize  that  religion  is  a  good  thing  socially.  We  must 
insist  that  it  is  a  divine  power,  carrying  a  divine  message 
and  that  there  is  a  divine  warrant,  divine  compensation  for 
everything  that  we  do  for  the  poor  in  the  name  of  Christ. 
Nor  may  we  overlook  in  respect  of  this  the  spiritual  reaction 
on  him  who  serves  the  poor.  Our  Lord  on  many  occasions 
mentioned  the  compensation  that  followed  this  service.  The 


118  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

habit  of  looking  upon  the  Christian  life  as  the  unfolding  of 
the  power  of  God  in  human  form  and  relation  leads  us  to 
seek  and  to  prize  the  spiritual  enrichment  and  the  holy  joy 
that  result  from  the  consciousness  of  carrying  out  a  literal 
command  of  Jesus  Christ  in  a  literal  manner. 

No  one  should  wish  to  hide  or  excuse  errors  that  result 
from  a  mistaken  interpretation  of  this  truth.  There  have 
been  and  there  are  those  who  insist  too  much  on  the  spiritual 
nature  of  charity  and  too  little  on  the  requirements  of  com- 
mon sense  in  their  way  of  serving  the  poor.  No  beatitude 
was  pronounced  in  favor  of  those  who  serve  a  noble  cause  in 
a  faulty  way.  One  who  believes  that  the  supernatural  motive 
in  relief  work  excuses  us  from  painstaking  care,  from  thor- 
oughgoing methods,  from  most  exact  solicitude  for  the  out- 
come of  our  efforts  is  not  a  worthy  representative  of  Chris- 
tian charity. 

Many  alleged  faults  of  religious  charity  are  discovered  by 
judging  it  in  the  light  of  an  ideal  in  charity  to  which  no 
human  power  can  attain.  Thus  for  instance,  the  judgment 
of  the  work  of  an  orphan  asylum  containing  two  hundred 
children  is  far  more  severe  in  the  minds  of  critics  than  the 
judgment  that  these  would  express  concerning  the  rearing  of 
two  hundred  children  in  fifty  normal  homes.  So  long  as' 
no  allowance  is  made  for  average  human  results  in  rearing 
children  in  an  institution  and  comparison  is  made  to  the 
ideal  outcome  found  nowhere  it  will  be  impossible  to  do  jus- 
tice to  institutions.  But  after  all  of  these  allowances  have 
been  made  we  must  have  the  courage  to  admit  mistakes 
when  we  make  them,  docility  that  makes  us  eager  to  improve 
and  supreme  earnestness  in  the  effort.  Were  the  critics  of 
religious  charity  more  scientific  than  they  are,  did  they  con- 
fine their  judgment  to  carefully  sifted  information,  or  did 
they  take  into  account  all  of  the  facts  needed  for  an  objective 
judgment,  the  atmosphere  of  the  world  of  good  Samaritans 
would  be  notably  cleared. 


PRINCIPLES  IN  RELIEF  119 

In  all  methods  and  policies  in  relief  work  the  supremacy 
of  the  moral  law  as  interpreted  by  the  Church  remains  un- 
questioned. 

The  Church  holds  that  she  is  the  authorized  guardian  of 
Divine  Revelation.  She  holds  unyieldingly  as  well,  to  her 
claim  that  the  will  of  God  is  the  law  of  life  and  that  that 
will  is  made  known  in  its  essential  bearings  through  the  con- 
stitution of  human  nature,  the  demands  of  its  welfare  and 
Divine  Revelation.  She  insists  that  the  spiritual  bearings 
of  all  human  activity  are  ultimately  determining.  The 
Church  claims  furthermore  a  disciplinary  power  over  her 
children  by  virtue  of  which  she  defends  the  frontiers  of  the 
moral  law  as  may  be  required  in  the  serving  of  the  whole  spir- 
itual purpose  of  her  divine  mission. 

We  are  not  to  infer  from  this  that  any  high-handed  indif- 
ference to  human  progress  or  to  the  lessons  of  human  wisdom 
is  to  be  expected.  The  Church  aims  to  take  account  of  the 
results  of  thought  and  the  lessons  of  experience  at  all  times. 
She  is  eager  to  appropriate  to  her  practical  wisdom  all  of 
the  results  of  human  thought  and  experience.  She  keeps  in 
mind,  however,  in  her  practical  judgment  and  in  the  policies 
that  are  subjected  to  her  discretion,  the  limitations  of  her 
children,  their  craving  for  definite  moral  guidance,  no  less 
than  the  irresponsibility  and  recklessness  with  which  new 
theories  and  plausible  policies  are  offered  to  a  credulous 
world  by  irresponsible  thought.  If  history  teaches  us  any 
lesson  with  unmistakable  clearness  it  is  that  wisdom  lies  in 
long  outlooks  and  slow  advance.  Half  of  the  genius  of  any 
historical  epoch  is  engaged  in  undoing  the  mistakes  of  the 
age  that  just  preceded.  The  full  harvest  of  poverty  and 
degradation  that  causes  the  world  so  much  concern  to-day 
is  the  historical  offspring  of  principles  heralded  as  truth  a 
century  ago,  principles  in  which  the  Church  no  more  believed 
then  than  she  does  to-day.  She  feared  rampant  individual- 
ism a  century  ago  no  less  than  she  fears  it  now. 

Some  one  with  no  sense  of  the  heavy  responsibility  of  his 
words  proposes  euthanasia,  for  instance,  to  ease  death  of 


120  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHAEITY 

helpless  cripples  brought  about  under  medical  direction. 
This  excites  horror  everywhere  outside  the  Church  as  well 
as  within  it.  The  Church  sets  her  face  against  it  because 
she  interprets  it  as  a  violation  of  the  Commandment  "Thou 
shalt  not  kill."  Science  proposes  surgical  procedure  with 
criminals  and  imbeciles  to  prevent  the  perpetuation  of  these 
anti-social  types.  The  Church  refuses  her  approval  until 
she  can  gain  time  to  understand  whether  or  not  such  a  pro- 
cedure is  a  violation  of  the  natural  right  which  the  victims 
have  not  necessarily  forfeited  in  their  condition  or  by  their 
behavior.  Many  scholars,  who  are  students  of  social  condi- 
tions, propose  a  restricted  birth-rate  as  a  measure  in  dealing 
with  poverty.  The  Church  finds  this  proposal  in  conflict 
with  her  understanding  of  the  moral  law  and  she  forbids 
with  stern  insistence  any  connivance  at  such  policies.  She 
finds  this  a  mistaken  method  of  dealing  with  social  injustice. 
Throughout  all  such  experiences  in  which  the  Church 
finds  herself  at  odds  with  proposals  made  in  the  name  of 
so-called  progress  she  is  mindful  of  the  law  of  God,  the  nature 
of  sin,  of  the  sinful  tendencies  of  the  human  heart  and  she 
aims  to  hold  before  humanity  the  full  majesty  of  the  Divine 
Law  and  the  subtle  tendencies  by  which  men  seek  to  escape 
its  discipline. 

In  all  relief  work  of  whatsoever  kind  the  presumption  is 
against  action  by  the  State  and  in  favor  of  private  initiative. 

This  initiative  may  appear  in  the  form  of  individual  or 
collective  effort.  The  presumption  does  not  forbid  State 
action.  It  yields  when  the  facts  warrant  yielding.  This 
is  essentially  a  principle  of  political  democracy.  It  is  not 
distinctively  Catholic  nor  can  it  be.  It  is  probable,  how- 
ever, that  emphasis  upon  the  principle  is  more  marked  in 
Catholic  than  in  other  circles.  It  is  in  complete  harmony 
with  the  principle  that  makes  the  service  of  the  poor  essen- 
tially a  religious  act.  Democracy  in  its  wider  sense  is  pri- 
marily moral  and  spiritual  and  secondarily,  political.  It 
involves  a  high  type  of  social  order  with  a  minimum  of 


PKINCIPLES  IN  EELIEF  121 

coercion.  It  means  that  freely  playing  social  and  spiritual 
forces  have  definite  functions  in  the  service  of  social  justice 
and  in  the  maintenance  of  order.  The  Christian  who  is  thor- 
oughly socialized  is  conscious  of  a  wide  range  of  social  re- 
sponsibilities, the  sense  of  which  is  imparted  through  his  re- 
ligion. Society  develops  mainly  through  exercise  of  its 
responsibilities.  In  proportion  as  we  strengthen  the  freely 
acting  social  forces  through  public  opinion,  home,  Church 
and  school,  through  every  kind  of  voluntary  cultural  asso- 
ciation, we  improve  character,  discipline  selfishness,  promote 
ideals  and  insure  effective  idealism  in  the  regions  of  the  hu- 
man heart  to  which  the  coercions  of  civil  law  can  never  pene- 
trate. In  proportion  as  we  multiply  the  tasks  of  the  State 
we  decrease  the  chances  of  seeing  them  well  done.  All  of  this 
belongs  to  the  very  essentials  of  democracy.  The  Church 
has  thorough  understanding  and  profound  sympathy  with  it. 

This  principle  must  be  understood  with  care  and  followed 
with  discretion.  Whenever  conditions  become  such  that 
grave  injustice  results  and  the  action  of  voluntary  forces  of 
society  is  not  effective,  we  must  not  only  set  aside  the  pre- 
sumption against  State  action  but  also  do  our  utmost  to 
promote  legislation  without  delay  or  evasion.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  we  are  in  that  condition  at  present.  We  find  that 
poverty  is  one  of  the  most  pressing  problems  that  confronts 
the  modern  State.  The  failure  of  justice  under  present  law 
and  procedure;  the  conditions  and  processes  which  subject 
the  poor  to  stubborn  and  searching  dangers  at  every  point 
are  of  such  a  character  as  to  make  imperative,  reforms  of 
actual  institutions,  the  enactment  of  many  new  laws  and 
even  the  amendment  of  constitutions  in  order  that  the  State 
may  be  compelled  to  meet  conditions  with  a  more  effective 
hand.  None  who  are  well  informed  on  the  facts  of  poverty 
can  fail  to  realize  that  the  interests  of  social  justice  force  us 
as  never  before  to  do  our  utmost  in  promoting  legislation  in 
the  interests  of  the  weaker  social  classes. 

The  State  is  the  most  powerful  agency  that  we  now  know. 
Social  life  is  divided  into  many  conflicting  tendencies.  The 


122  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHAKITY 

State  is  the  only  social  force  in  which  all  of  the  interests  and 
elements  of  national  life  are  now  united.  Furthermore,  the 
State  has  effective  control  of  the  vast  resources  of  society. 
We  have  gained  in  the  knowledge  of  the  facts  of  poverty 
and  in  the  understanding  of  its  processes.  The  conscience  of 
the  world  is  overwhelmed  by  this  deeper  insight  into  human 
distress.  It  is  natural,  therefore,  for  us  to  turn  to  the  State 
with  increasing  frequency  and  to  ask  its  intervention  in  deal- 
ing with  problems  of  poverty.  Perhaps  we  need  now  as 
never  before  to  remind  ourselves  of  the  principle  in  question 
and  to  endeavor  to  arouse  a  deeper  sense  of  social  responsi- 
bility which  will  lead  to  more  effective  social  action  beyond 
the  law  in  the  interests  of  the  poor. 

The  presumption  against  State  action  is  further  supported 
by  the  principles  of  good  psychology.  The  history  of  State 
action  in  respect  of  the  poor  is  not  an  unbroken  record  of 
high  efficiency  and  inspiring  results.  The  rigidities  of  ad- 
ministration interfere  greatly  with  the  adaptability  essen- 
tial in  working  among  the  poor.  As  laws  multiply  we 
transfer  responsibilities  from  our  own  souls  to  the  soul  of  the< 
State.  There  is  prospect  of  enervating  the  poor  themselves 
who  can  be  dealt  with  more  effectively  and  more  intimately 
by  private  than  by  public  agencies.  Franklin  is  quoted  as 
having  said:  "I  have  observed  the  more  public  provisions 
are  made  for  the  poor,  the  less  they  provide  for  themselves." 
Attorneys  tell  us  that  men  with  large  means  who  wish  to 
make  bequests  in  the  interests  of  the  poor  prefer  to  make 
their  gifts  to  agencies  unassisted  by  public  funds.  At  times 
appeal  for  enactment  of  laws  in  the  interests  of  the  poor 
rests  on  false  grounds.  If  adequate  information  concerning 
the  facts  and  implications  of  poverty  were  forced  upon  the 
public  in  a  way  that  permitted  no  escape,  it  is  beyond  doubt 
that  far  more  would  be  done  through  volunteer  effort  than 
has  been  done  in  the  past.  If  cultural  agencies  insisted  on 
forcing  on  the  public  conscience,  understanding  of  social  re- 
sponsibility for  poverty  much  would  be  accomplished.  So 
long  as  we  permit  owners  of  wealth  and  wielders  of  power  to 


PKINCIPLES  IN  BELIEF  123 

remain  ignorant  of  the  facts  of  poverty  and  to  hold  their 
conscience  free  from  the  sense  of  measured  responsibility, 
it  will  be  necessary  for  the  active  friends  of  the  poor  to  invite 
intervention  by  law. 

Eelief  work  is  done  most  effectively  through  organizations. 

Ideal  service  of  the  poor  is  accomplished  when  the  strong 
and  the  weak,  server  and  served  are  in  immediate  personal 
touch  with  each  other.  This  is  notably  true  when  the  giver 
is  intelligent  and  the  beneficiary  is  honorable  and  sensible. 
Poverty  remains  for  all  time  a  plight  of  the  individual  person 
or  family.  Emergencies  against  which  the  poor  have  neither 
foresight  nor  means  must  be  met  as  they  arise,  with  as  little 
delay  and  delegation  from  one  to  another  as  is  possible.  If 
an  emergency  is  real  in  the  sense  that  a  family  is  confronted 
by  acute  distress,  unforeseen  and  not  in  anyway  dishonorable, 
it  is  well  to  act  without  delay,  thought  or  system  and  give 
relief  at  the  time  and  for  the  time.  If  the  problem  is  fully 
and  finally  met  in  that  way,  its  history  is  at  an  end.  How- 
ever, an  emergency  of  this  kind  should  serve  mainly  as  an 
introduction  to  a  dependent  family  not  as  a  farewell.  Once 
leisure  is  possible,  the  relief  agency  and  its  method  become 
necessary  if  service  is  to  be  effective  and  thorough. 

In  this  way,  we  may  set  aside  emergency  relief  which  is 
exceptional,  not  typical  nor  complicated.  The  situation  is 
as  simple  and  the  remedy  as  direct  as  was  the  case  with  the 
Good  Samaritan.  One  may  easily  become  lax  in  interpret- 
ing emergencies  and  in  this  way  cause  much  harm.  A 
woman  or  a  cripple  who  is  allowed  the  lucrative  indignity 
of  begging  on  the  street  does  not  present  an  emergency  to 
us  that  can  in  anyway  justify  the  hurried  if  even  kind  action 
of  throwing  a  coin  into  a  tin  cup.  It  is  far  nobler  to  discour- 
age the  practice,  to  look  up  city  ordinances  on  begging,  to 
send  a  social  worker  to  follow  the  beggar  to  her  home,  investi- 
gate her  needs,  give  her  immediate  and  continuing  assis- 
tance as  required,  and  in  this  way  give  proof  of  chivalrous 
Christian  interest  in  her  welfare.  Indiscriminate  giving  is 


124  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

a  lazy  impulsive  compromise  with  an  accusing  conscience 
that  charges  us  with  doing  less  than  our  duty  to  the  poor. 
When  it  is  not  that,  it  is  an  emotional  luxury  which  we 
enjoy,  perhaps  "the  luxury  of  doing  good."  A  hungry  man 
may  ask  for  money  to  buy  food  on  a  cold  night.  It  is  easy 
to  give  it,  to  feel  the  glow  that  a  good  deed  imparts  to  a 
generous  soul.  Yet  it  would  be  nobler — and  more  scien- 
tific— to  accompany  the  poor  man  to  the  restaurant  to  sit 
with  him  as  host  and  guest  ought  to  sit  in  easy  conversation 
and  unsuspecting  confidence.  Yet  this  nobler  way  is  not 
popular,  not  practicable  or  effective.  It  would  be  far  more 
noble  to  develop  at  once  an  interest  in  all  of  the  hungry 
men  in  the  city;  to  study  provisions  for  them,  to  encourage 
effective  arrangements  on  an  adequate  scale  for  every  hungry 
man  who  is  within  reach.  Here  as  elsewhere  we  find  ordi- 
nary forms  of  motive  and  feeling  at  work.  The  noble  types 
among  the  poor  are  the  least  vociferous  while  the  unworthy 
are  bold  and  in  evidence.  They  who  throw  their  coins 
thoughtlessly,  as  occasion  invites,  do,  it  is  true,  foster  a 
noble  impulse  in  themselves,  but  at  the  same  time  they  shut 
their  eyes  to  a  wider  vision  of  God's  work,  and  they  hurt  by 
implication,  if  not  in  fact,  the  larger  impulse  of  society  to 
deal  with  problems  of  distress  in  a  large  and  effective  way. 
Perhaps  Professor  Baldwin  has  summarized  the  thought  in 
a  way  worth  noting  as  leaning,  as  a  psychologist  would,  to- 
ward the  "reaction"  on  the  giver  as  of  more  importance  than 
system. 

"In  the  organization  of  charities,  for  example,  in  the  large 
cities,  much  has  been  gained,  no  doubt,  by  what  is  called 
'constructive  charity.'  The  charity  society  receives  and  dis- 
penses the  gifts  of  the  charitable  individuals.  It  certainly 
prevents  much  misplaced  giving  and  discourages  vagrancy; 
its  ends  and  its  results  collectively  considered  are  good.  But 
its  results  upon  the  individual  are  in  many  respects  bad. 
The  immediate  responses  of  his  charitable  impulse  are  pre- 
vented; the  knowledge  of  the  single  needy  person  is  made 
remote  and  secondhand.  The  beneficiary  is  classed  as  "case 


PKINCIPLES  IN  KELIEF  125 

number  10"  and  treated  with  thousands  like  it.  The  bowels 
of  mercy  are  succeeded  by  the  wheels  of  the  typewriter,  and 
the  ready  smile  of  human  sympathy  gives  place  to  the  curves 
of  the  statistician.  Every  citizen  should  support  organized 
charity,  but  he  should  also  reserve  some  small  change  in 
his  pockets,  and  he  should  every  now  and  then  indulge  in 
a  debauch  of  capricious  and  sympathetic  giving,  simply  to 
keep  alive  in  himself  the  springs  of  divine  and  spontaneous 
charity." 

The  law  of  progress  tends  to  make  relations  fractional 
and  impersonal.  Lives  touch  at  one  point  and  the  contact 
ends  there.  Business  men  are  not  friends  because  they  trade 
with  one  another.  Neighbors  are  not  neighbors  because 
they  live  in  the  same  city  block.  Professors  and  students 
have  an  academic,  too  rarely  a  wholesome  friendly  relation. 
Men  and  women  who  worship  God  at  the  same  altar,  nod  as 
they  come  and  go,  yet  rarely  know  one  another's  name.  If 
then  in  the  normal  course  of  successful  life  we  are  socially 
remote,  impersonal  and  reserved,  it  is  not  a  source  of  wonder 
if  our  relations  with  the  poor  are  impersonal,  remote  and 
fractional.  When  we  recognize  this  as  a  fact  in  life  and  we 
suggest  methods  in  relief,  such  as  system,  foresight,  record 
and  interpretation,  we  follow  the  custom  of  the  world  and 
the  law  of  life.  This  is  the  more  necessary  because  of  con- 
ditions which  dishonor  society,  combined  with  impulses 
which  declare  our  valiant  ideals  of  Justice  and  Charity. 
There  are  so  many  poor,  so  many  in  distress,  so  many  begin- 
ning life  in  hunger  and  neglect  or  ending  it  in  dismay  and 
pain  or  fighting  adversity  in  blind  helplessness  that  we  feel 
urged  to  seek  them  out,  to  overlook  none,  to  help  all  and 
cheer  them.  There  is  no  way  worthy  of  our  power  to  ac- 
complish this  except  by  system,  method,  foresight,  investi- 
gation. These  are  devices  to  multiply  our  energies,  to 
overcome  problems  too  vast  and  complex  for  our  divided 
energies. 

There   are    amiable    Samaritans    whose    sympathy   lacks 
discipline  and  whose  judgment  inspires  neither  confidence 


126  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHAEITY 

nor  respect  How  shall  we  protect  the  poor  againat  these 
except  by  the  discipline  of  system  and  the  barrier  of  organi- 
zation, plan  and  record.  All  of  these  can  be  of  use  some- 
where in  the  battle  against  poverty  and  misery.  But  their 
place  must  be  found  and  they  must  keep  it.  There  was 
much  heart  in  a  Red  Cross  director  who  had  charge  of 
preparation  of  surgical  dressings  during  the  war.  Every- 
thing that  a  certain  important  social  leader  did  was  done 
badly.  She  was  so  generous,  so  amiable,  so  discreetly  vain 
and  sensitive  that  no  one  interfered  with  her  work.  But  her 
output  was  carefully  put  aside  and  each  night  it  was  turned 
to  other  uses. 

We  may  not  leave  to  chance  the  touch  that  arouses  men 
or  the  knowledge  that  will  win  their  aid.  We  must  save 
them  from  all  occasion  to  neglect  their  spiritual  duty  to- 
ward the  poor.  We  must  correct  the  valuations  of  wealth 
that  mislead  them  and  the  estrangement  from  the  poor  that 
permits  their  consciences  to  indulge  in  an  unfounded  sense 
of  duty  fully  done.  We  must  ease  the  heavy  burden  of 
those  who  wait  not  to  be  called,  who  volunteer  services 
and  means  to  every  good  cause  that  presents  itself.  Vig- 
orous relief  agencies  win,  educate  and  direct  the  strong 
with  most  effective  results.  Such  organizations  act  as  set- 
ting for  an  ideal  of  service  which  would  otherwise  fail  of 
appeal. 

The  Christian  law  that  makes  a  stewardship  out  of  strength 
and  sends  it  to  find  its  higher  sanctity  in  serving  weakness 
really  imposes  initiative  on  strength.  It  should  seek  out 
the  weak.  These  should  not  be  asked  to  make  themselves 
known.  In  view  of  social  isolation  of  strong  from  weak, 
the  multitude  of  the  latter  and  their  weakness,  Christian 
strength  and  culture  should  aim  to  find  all,  to  neglect  none, 
to  serve  all  with  good  effect.  But  investigation  is  necessary 
to  that  end.  It  can  be  best  promoted  and  done  with  more 
critical  care  by  organized  rather  than  by  solitary  effort. 
Organization  is  a  means  by  which  the  Church  can  find  her 
own  poor;  can  send  her  apostles  into  the  dark  valleys  which 


PRINCIPLES  IN  RELIEF  127 

those  inhabit  and  make  certain  that  none  are  overlooked, 
none  neglected,  none  served  badly,  none  turned  over  to  other 
agencies  which  share  not  her  faith  nor  feel  the  bond  of 
understanding  and  confidence  that  the  poor  crave  from  those 
who  bring  them  comfort.  Organization  is  in  position  fur- 
ther to  act  as  attorney  for  the  poor,  to  press  their  claims 
on  Church  and  society,  on  state  and  community,  and  force 
these  claims  to  successful  issue.  No  number  of  isolated 
workers  can  accomplish  this. 

Discrimination  is  necessary   in  aiding  the  poor. 

Sympathy  must  be  held  in  reasonable  check.  The  high 
motive  of  serving  God  in  the  poor  must  be  related  to  the 
needs  of  these  and  the  service  must  be  given  as  required 
by  the  case,  not  as  urged  by  the  emotions  of  the  giver. 
The  worthy  poor  must  be  distinguished  from  the  undeserving. 
The  plight  of  the  family  must  be  studied  with  care.  As 
need  is  physical,  mental,  moral  or  social  it  will  require 
varied  policies  and  different  aptitudes.  The  many  implica- 
tions of  poverty  may  not  be  overlooked.  They  will  be 
found  only  when  trained  workers  know  how  to  search  them 
out.  The  factors  that  are  peculiar  to  any  dependent  family 
must  be  distinguished  from  those  found  among  all  the  poor. 
They  who  serve  the  case  directly  may  deal  with  the  former 
as  seems  best.  But  the  factors  common  to  all  poverty 
must  be  approached  from  a  broader  standpoint  and  dealt 
with  as  problems  of  society — not  of  the  individual  poor. 
Wretched  home  conditions  may  be  due  to  the  pure  care- 
lessness of  a  dependent  family  in  a  city  that  has  wise  hous- 
ing legislation.  They  may  be  due  also  to  a  general  condition 
of  neglect  against  which  no  one  could  struggle  with  good 
effect.  Now  discrimination  involves  standards  and  stand- 
ards should  represent  collective  thought  of  many  and  wise 
use  of  the  lessons  of  experience.  These  are  made  possible 
through  organization  and  in  no  other  way. 

Organization  performs  many  other  services  which  are 
of  greatest  value.  It  educates  the  members.  It  makes  the 


128 

vision  of  the  most  gifted  and  the  wisdom  of  the  most  ex- 
perienced members  available  to  all  who  are  of  docile  heart 
and  generous  sympathy.  It  emancipates  its  members  from 
the  tyranny  of  false  impressions  about  the  poor,  from  the 
more  deplorable  tyranny  of  dwarfed  standards  which  dispose 
one  to  much  self-righteousness  combined  with  little  in 
achievement.  One  meets  from  time  to  time  those  who  see 
no  duty  toward  the  poor  except  that  of  material  relief  of 
actual  need — a  dwarfed  standard  of  service  surely. 

Again  organization  places  us  in  touch  with  every  phase 
of  progress  in  society,  in  thought,  in  medical  and  social 
science  as  these  may  serve  in  our  ministry  to  the  poor. 
Eesearch  in  industry,  in  medicine,  in  social  conditions  ac- 
complishes marvels  every  day.  Not  a  tenth  of  the  advan- 
tages of  such  insight  can  inure  to  the  befriending  of  the 
poor  except  as  organizations  with  serious  purpose  and  sus- 
tained zeal  serve  that  end. 

Organization  has  a  further  role  in  adjusting  Catholic 
with  all  other  relief  work  whatsoever.  We  must  wish  to 
see  our  philosophy  expressed  with  force  and  our  understand- 
ing represented  with  authority.  Abstract  principles  de- 
clared by  those  who  have  no  touch  with  problems  and  no 
contact  with  the  devious  processes  of  dependency,  have,  it 
is  true,  a  doctrinal  value.  But  this  gains  in  power  and 
effect  when  they  who  speak,  speak  with  the  authority  that 
comes  from  experience.  Organization  develops  leaders  and 
qualifies  them  in  every  way  to  represent  both  our  principles, 
our  wisdom  and  our  works.  If  we  are  not  adequately 
represented  in  social  movements,  communities  and  public 
boards,  this  is  due  in  part  to  our  failure  to  develop  the 
kind  of  representative  men  and  women  who  are  called  for 
in  such  work. 

Not  organization  of  any  sort,  rather  organization  that  en- 
gages the  interest  of  its  members,  pools  their  wisdom  and 
guides  their  effort  is  required.  Organizations  may  be  as 
individuals  may  be,  short-sighted,  apathetic  and  careless. 
They  will  respond  usually  to  their  types  of  leadership. 


PRINCIPLES  IN  RELIEF  129 

And  one  of  the  duties  of  leadership  is  to  find  place  for 
talent  and  direct  it  there.  Division  of  labor  occurs  in  relief 
work  as  elsewhere.  Few  are  listless  when  they  are  called 
on  to  do  what  they  like  and  do  well.  In  this  way  it  is 
possible  to  protect  the  poor  against  their  friends  who  would 
help  them,  really  to  their  harm.  It  is  only  the  organization 
that  can  remove  the  careless  worker  of  every  type  and  the 
intermittent  worker.  Only  the  organization  can  watch  re- 
sults, compare  yesterday  with  to-day  and  improve  methods 
as  experience  dictates.  Now  organization  implies  continued 
work  and  records  of  it:  study  of  it  and  profit  from  it.  If 
many  are  to  serve  a  common  aim,  standards  are  necessary; 
consultation,  conference,  decision  and  experiment  are  parts 
of  everyday  routine.  If  we  are  to  contribute  our  share 
to  modern  society  in  dealing  with  poverty,  we  must  be  in 
position  to  find  the  lessons  in  our  work,  interpret  them  and 
give  them  to  the  world.  If  the  supernatural  element  on 
which  we  so  gladly  insist,  gives  us  superiority  in  relief 
work,  we  should  be  proud  to  make  it  known.  If  it  makes 
our  insight  into  misery  more  keen,  if  it  makes  our  hearts 
more  rich  in  impulse  to  service  and  more  effective  in  exe- 
cution, where  shall  we  find  a  nobler  form  of  apologetics 
than  here.  Should  we  insist  on  the  superiority  of  the  qual- 
ity of  our  work  against  poverty  and  rest  our  claim  on  what 
Christ  gave  to  us  as  law  rather  than  on  what  we  bring  to 
Him  in  effective  service,  we  shall  not  impress  the  world 
with  either  our  superiority  or  our  service.  We  have  a 
noble  inheritance  in  our  charities.  If  we  but  pass  it  on  and 
add  nothing  to  it  from  our  day  and  our  resources  we  shall 
show  little  worthiness  of  our  heritage. 


CHAPTEK  XI 

PRINCIPLES  IN  BELIEF 

(Continued) 

The  role  of  organization  in  relief  work  is  made  more 
impressive  if  we  look  at  it  from  the  standpoints  from  which 
we  have  viewed  poverty. 

Poverty  is  a  plight  of  the  individual  who  cannot  gain 
sufficient  income  in  normal  ways.  This  experience  ranges 
from  acute  emergency  need  to  habitual  need.  Relief  is 
first  duty  here;  relief  that  is  prompt,  direct  and  effective. 
But  once  the  emergency  is  met,  thought  must  turn  to  pre- 
vention, to  restoration  of  self-confidence  and  touch  with 
resources  which  make  for  independence.  Prevention,  or 
constructive  work  for  a  dependent  family,  puts  one  in  touch 
with  many  social  situations,  calls  for  mature  wisdom  and 
continued  care.  At  this  point,  the  organization  becomes 
of  greatest  help. 

But  poverty  is  a  plight  of  society.  Social  conditions  are 
basic  factors  in  dependency.  Mistaken  views,  lack  of  sense 
of  social  responsibility  among  cultured  and  wealthy  classes, 
physical  conditions,  social  factors  must  be  studied,  dealt 
with  and  mastered.  This  is  quite  out  of  the  question  unless 
we  are  united  in  active  organizations  which  construct  the 
large  views  and  make  the  wide  observations  which  suggest 
aims  and  methods  of  wide  reach.  The  main  hope  of  the 
poor  lies  finally  in  the  awakened  social  conscience:  in  the 
knowledge  of  conditions  and  sympathy  with  human  aspira- 
tions out  of  which  spring  the  standards  of  social  justice 
that  ought  to  direct  all  charity  whatsoever.  Granted  that 
the  social  conscience  is  at  times  vague,  too  idealistic,  im- 
practical, we  must  admit  that  it  carries  every  hope  of  prog- 

130 


PRINCIPLES  IN  EELIEF  131 

ress  in  large  lines,  and  that  ,it  inspires  hearts,  focuses 
thought  and  brings  to  the  doors  of  our  legislatures,  the 
suggestions  out  of  which  new  laws  in  interest  of  the  poor 
are  made.  Now  Catholic  charities  will  have  part  in  the 
upbuilding  of  the  social  conscience  and  formulating  its 
code,  only  in  proportion  as  we  meet  in  organization,  find 
and  declare  our  moral  principles  and  work  with  effect  to- 
ward their  realization.  Lay  organizations  in  Catholic  re- 
lief work  which  confine  themselves  to  the  ministry  of  relief 
and  isolate  themselves  from  this  larger  movement  make  two 
mistakes.  They  rob  themselves  of  the  inspiration  that 
might  come  to  them  from  this  noble  and  large  sphere  of 
social  action;  and  they  impoverish  that  movement  itself 
by  preventing  the  touch  of  the  supernatural  from  reach- 
ing it. 

Poverty  is  a  plight  of  the  state.  Its  victims  do  not 
enjoy  the  realization  of  justice.  They  are  baffled.  Rights 
defined  in  law  are  not  secure.  New  laws,  demanded  by  the 
conscience  of  the  time,  are  delayed.  More  effective  repre- 
sentation of  the  poor  before  legislatives  and  courts  is  re- 
quired. Now  in  proportion  as  Catholic  charities  remain 
aloof  from  these  problems,  they  withhold  strength  from 
movements  that  alone  promise  relief  in  large  ways,  to  the 
poor.  This  service  again  will  be  neglected  unless  we  collect 
our  forces  in  organization  and  foster  a  public  spirited  inter- 
est in  this  work  of  elementary  justice. 

Cooperation  with  all  other  agencies  in  the  field  of  relief 
should  be  encouraged  and  welcomed  as  far  as  consistent 
with  essential  principles  of  Catholic  belief  and  practice. 

No  one  familiar  with  social  work  will  claim  that  the 
application  of  this  principle  is  either  easy  or  unimportant. 
Public  authorities  touch  poverty  at  many  points.  State, 
county  and  city  feel  in  varying  degrees  the  duty  of  giving 
some  kind  of  attention,  some  form  of  service  to  the  poor. 
Public  adminisistrative  charities  are  supremely  important 
factors  of  which  we  should  always  take  adequate  account. 


132  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

There  are  religious  charities  representing  every  form  of 
belief:  philanthropies  which  spring  from  civic  and  hu- 
mane impulses,  not  formally  allied  to  any  religion :  activities 
based  on  race  or  professional  lines  which  are  directed  to- 
ward service  of  the  poor  in  a  general  or  particular  way. 
These  agencies  carry  with  them  historical  antagonisms,  ac- 
quired suspicions,  misunderstandings,  jealousy  of  juris- 
diction and  differences  of  principle,  of  doctrine,  of  aim  and 
valuation,  that  defy  the  spirit  of  the  charity  that  they 
would  serve  and  diminish  the  extent  as  they  hurt  the  qual- 
ity of  service  that  they  offer. 

Our  workers  should  know  their  principles  thoroughly. 
They  should  understand  the  doctrinal  points  to  which  we 
feel  obliged  to  hold.  They  should  understand  the  policies 
which  may  be  modified  and  the  long  reach  of  service  in 
which  we  can  work  in  straightforward  companionship  with 
others.  Readiness  to  believe  in  the  good  faith  of  others  is 
essential  to  all  cooperation.  Quick  repression  of  suspicion 
which  grows  with  geometrical  speed  and  kills  the  faculties 
of  trust  must  be  sought.  Scrupulous  care  not  to  bear  false 
witness  against  any  agency  is  of  paramount  importance. 
Slowness  and  never  readiness  to  explain  the  behavior  of 
other  agencies  by  bigotry  and  proselytizing  should  be  gen- 
eral. 

The  orphan  asylum  is  a  characteristic  institution  in  our 
care  of  children.  It  is  not  a  necessary  Catholic  institution. 
There  is  not  a  reason  to  prevent  us  from  doing  our  utmost 
to  find  normal  homes  for  every  child  whose  welfare  might 
be  served  in  that  way.  If  then  a  public  official  or  a  philan- 
thropic organization  advocate  less  use  of  institutions  and 
determined  efforts  to  find  homes  for  normal  children,  we 
should  base  our  policies  and  views  on  the  merits  of  the 
case  and  not  assume  that  sinister  purposes  lie  beneath  the 
surface. 

Delicate  regard  for  the  feelings  and  privacy  of  the  poor 
is  characteristic  in  our  charity.  It  is  a  wholesome  practice 
but  not  peculiar  to  us.  If  a  Catholic  organization  refuses 


PRINCIPLES  IN  RELIEF  133 

to  use  the  confidential  exchange — a  most  effective  form  of 
cooperation — there  should  be  no  hurried  assumption  that 
it  is  wrong  or  that  our  method  alone  is  right.  It  is  possible 
for  us,  as  for  all  men,  to  mistake  our  temperament  for  our 
principles  and  to  base  policies  on  our  limitations  instead  of 
our  clearly  established  convictions.  There  is  a  kind  of 
shyness  found  among  our  workers  which  keeps  them  back 
from  wholehearted  desire  for  cooperation.  Yet  all  of  the 
interests  of  the  poor  require  that  we  encourage  the  spirit 
of  cooperation  and  welcome  corresponding  policies  to  the 
utmost. 

But  other  reasons  urge  as  well.  The  processes  of  poverty 
recognize  no  differences  in  religion,  nationality  or  party. 
The  weak  are  forced  down  into  the  low  valleys  of  misery 
with  indiscriminate  power.  Men  and  women  of  every 
form  of  belief  and  philosophy  and  social  interest  meet 
and  work  side  by  side  in  their  benevolent  mission.  They 
face  identical  conditions,  recognize  the  same  factors, 
meet  the  same  squalor,  anguish  and  helpless  apathy.  A 
common  task  challenges  the  wisdom  of  every  agency  in  the 
field.  All  should  stand  as  a  solid  phalanx  against  condi- 
tions in  industry,  in  housing,  in  city  administration,  in 
environment  that  foster  delinquency,  destroy  homes,  breed 
disease  and  defeat  the  purposes  of  God  and  the  hopes  of 
humanity  among  the  poor.  When  the  duty  of  relief  and  care 
of  the  single  child  or  dependent  family  alone  is  kept  in 
mind,  differences  are  augmented.  But  the  spirit  of  fair 
play,  trust  and  compromise  that  made  our  political  consti- 
tution possible  ought  to  avail  in  developing  the  supplementary 
social  constitution  in  which  all  social  interests  may  join  their 
resources. 

These  considerations  are  of  a  general  nature.  There  are 
others  which  are  particular.  We  are  not  caring  for  our 
own  poor.  Granting  the  heavy  burden  placed  upon  us  by 
immigration,  our  resources  in  means  and  workers  are  inade- 
quate to  the  task  of  caring  for  our  poor.  Since  general 
social  agencies  are  actually  in  touch  with  large  percentages 


134          SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

of  Catholic  poor,  it  seems  axiomatic  that  we  ought  to  seek 
ways  of  cooperation  without  question.  To  some  extent,  it 
is  best  for  religious  cii^  Cities  to  attempt  to  provide  for  their 
own.  Confidence  is  more  easily  given,  understanding  is 
assured,  and  the  spirit  of  common  faith  lends  a  touch  of 
joy  and  friendliness  that  is  of  utmost  value.  Nevertheless 
the  spirit  of  ready  cooperation  and  practical  steps  to  realize 
it  should  prevail.  Full  allowance  for  the  obstacles  that  ex- 
perience points  out  does  not  prevent  this. 

Cooperation  among  Catholic  charities  themselves  should 
be  thorough,  sympathetic,  and  constant.  This  is  not  now 
the  case.  Isolated  work  is  wasteful.  It  lacks  wisdom  and  re- 
duces the  quality  of  service  offered.  Very  often  when  co- 
operation is  inefficient  it  is  due  to  lack  of  machinery,  not 
to  lack  of  good  will  or  indifference  to  the  value  of  coop- 
eration. Many  of  our  social  agencies  are  thoroughly 
equipped  units  in  the  Church's  life.  Such  are  the  religious 
communities.  They  have  traditions  of  more  or  less  devel- 
oped isolation  from  currents  of  life  and  thought.  Catholic 
consciousness  focuses  in  parish,  diocese,  city,  religious  com- 
munity and  lay  organization.  They  are  united  in  faith 
and  spiritual  impulse;  in  social  perspective  and  aim.  Clos- 
est cooperation  can  only  enhance  the  quality  of  their  work. 
Insistence  on  particular  interest  or  policy  will  bring  into 
the  work,  as  elsewhere,  the  ravages  of  individualism. 

The  trained  social  worker  has  become  essential  to  effec- 
tive service  of  the  poor. 

Right  standards  demand  this.  Not  every  friend  of  the 
poor  need  be  a  trained  worker.  There  should  be  found,  how- 
ever, in  our  ranks  a  sufficient  number  of  highly  trained 
workers  to  serve  all  of  the  functions  of  technical  skill  in 
serving  the  poor.  For  the  moment  no  distinction  is  made  be- 
tween the  paid  and  the  volunteer  trained  worker.  All  things 
considered,  a  volunteer  represents  no  higher  type  of  service 
necessarily  than  the  paid  worker.  However  we  get  them, 
well  informed,  well  trained  and  experienced  workers  are 


PRINCIPLES  IN  EELIEF  135 

necessary.  Volunteers  must  always  outnumber  the  paid 
workers.  But  there  is  no  occasion  to  underrate  the  value 
of  the  paid  worker  or  to  assume  that  salary  makes  one  sor- 
did in  charity  any  more  than  it  does  in  religion,  education 
or  the  professions. 

Emergencies,  as  some  one  has  happily  said,  are  the  rule 
among  the  poor.  We  must  he  so  equipped  that  at  a  mo- 
ment's notice,  some  one  qualified  to  act  may  go  to  the 
relief  of  the  poor.  If  it  can  be  accomplished  by  volunteers, 
it  is  well.  One  may  fairly  assume,  however,  that  it  can  be 
done  generally  with  more  certainty  by  one  whose  time  and 
services  are  at  command,  with  no  other  actual  or  contin- 
gent duties  in  the  way.  Apart  from  emergencies,  the  poor 
with  whom  relief  agencies  are  in  touch  invite  constant  at- 
tention. The  volunteers  who  work  for  them  are  helped 
by  some  kinU  of  experienced  supervision  conducted  with 
the  leisure  and  thoroughness  that  alone  are  worthy  of  high 
motive  and  noble  work.  Care  is  required,  in  studying  a 
case,  to  find  all  of  the  bearings  in  it  and  to  start  in  motion 
and  hold  in  due  relation  the  resources  and  agencies  whose 
services  are  required.  The  number  and  variety  of  these 
social  and  public  agencies  are  such  that  only  serious  efforts 
will  gain  for  one  satisfactory  information.  Furthermore 
the  field  is  so  vast  and  so  divided  into  specialized  activities 
that  experts  tend  increasingly  to  claim  authority  in  sections 
and  not  in  the  whole  field. 

A  vast  literature  dealing  with  poverty  and  relief  has  been 
developed.  Scholarship  in  social  research,  in  industry, 
in  many  fields  of  medicine  that  lie  near  to  poverty  and  its 
processes  has  flooded  the  dim  valleys  with  light.  There 
is  much  that  is  of  highest  value  to  us  in  these  results. 
Were  we  to  neglect  these  contributions  to  literature,  we 
would  but  blind  ourselves  and  condemn  the  poor  whom 
we  serve  to  an  inferior  quality  of  service.  The  lessons 
learned  from  the  remote  and  immediate  past  are  at  our 
service  in  the  interpretations  which  serious  and  able  men 
and  women  have  worked  out  with  painstaking  care.  Now 


136          SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHAEITY 

the  mastery  of  this  literature  or  parts  of  it  is  reserved  to 
those  who  come  to  it  with  training  and  understanding. 
And  the  enrichment  of  impulse  and  direction  of  policy 
which  our  charities  may  derive  from  it  awaits  the  call  of 
those  from  our  own  ranks  who  are  in  position  to  read, 
interpret  and  apply. 

If  mere  relief  is  the  single  aim  in  charity,  trained  social 
workers  will  not  appear  necessary.  If  it  is  content  with 
superficial  service  that  looks  neither  backward  for  wisdom 
nor  forward  for  keener  insight  into  the  upward  movement 
of  life,  the  case  for  the  trained  worker  is  not  strong.  But 
if  the  Church  and  the  spirit  of  her  wonderful  historical 
love  of  the  poor  have  any  call  to  large  social  action;  if  she 
is  called  upon  to  place  her  sentries  and  missionaries  of 
love  at  every  point  where  the  poor  are  harassed,  must  she 
not  find  among  those  whom  her  charity  inspires  men  and 
women,  religious  and  lay,  who  will  act  with  the  power  of 
supreme  devotion  and  speak  reenforced  with  everything  that 
gives  understanding?  If  society  and  the  modern  state 
have  a  right  to  ask  her  for  the  indications  of  her  wisdom 
and  the  cheering  support  of  her  leaders,  shall  she  not  en- 
deavor to  equip  her  representatives  in  a  way  worthy  of  the 
task?  The  answer  is  not  delayed.  On  every  side,  we 
find  proof  of  sympathetic  understanding  of  this.  Schools 
appear.  Colleges  and  seminaries  bend  their  courses  and 
adapt  their  discipline  in  order  that  students  may  have  occa- 
sion to  serve  and  as  well  to  learn.  All  great  social  interests 
establish  schools.  Law,  medicine,  theology,  finance,  art, 
engineering  and  journalism  have  done  so.  Charity  must 
do  so. 

The  tendency  to  assume  that  work  for  salary  is  in  some 
way  less  noble  than  unpaid  service  is  not  as  widespread  as 
it  once  was.  It  is  hardly  fair,  hardly  in  keeping  with  the 
facts  and  the  experience  of  life  to  maintain  this.  Volun- 
teers can  do  faulty  work  and  yield  to  mean  motives.  They 
can  fall  victims  to  selfish  love  of  distinction,  to  intolerance, 
indifference  and  error,  but  we  prefer  to  think  that  they  do  so 


PRINCIPLES  IN  RELIEF  137 

rarely  and  that  on  the  whole  they  are  as  noble  as  the  cause 
that  they  serve.  Paid  workers  can  do  very  noble  work. 
They  can  keep  motive  pure  and  sustain  hardship  and  main- 
tain efficiency  with  a  devotedness  worthy  of  all  praise,  and 
we  prefer  to  believe  that  in  our  day  this  is  the  rule,  not 
the  exception. 

There  are  some  among  our  circles  who  assume  that  our 
methods  are  nearly  perfect  and  they  show  little  zeal  in  the 
critical  study  and  exact  information  which  we  would  like 
to  find  as  supports  of  such  statements.  There  are  some  in 
other  circles  who  assume  that  our  standards  are  low  and  our 
work  is  of  practically  little  value.  There  are  others  who 
assume  that  we  are  out  of  date,  suited  only  to  a  day  that 
is  past.  Now  both  tendencies  indicate  faulty  understand- 
ing of  the  needs  of  the  poor  and  the  personal  obligations 
of  Charity  as  a  virtue  in  the  Christian  life.  If  a  kinder 
spirit  prevailed  on  all  sides,  each  might  look  with  appre- 
ciation upon  the  other  and  endeavor  to  learn  by  admiration 
instead  of  opposing  by  blame.  If  our  own  charities  were 
better  known  they  could  not  fail  to  profit.  Our  methods 
and  results  in  Child  Welfare  Work  are  known  to  us  but 
a  literature  that  would  present  them  to  the  world  and  com- 
mand attention  scarcely  exists.  The  social  work  of  our 
hospitals  is  scarcely  known  to  ourselves.  A  directory  of 
our  charities  does  not  exist.  So  confident  are  we  of  the 
silent  consecration  of  our  religious  of  every  type,  so  matter- 
of-fact  is  their  complete  renunciation  in  our  eyes,  so  prompt 
and  self-effacing  are  they  in  every  emergency  that  we 
scarcely  pause  in  wonder  at  this  perpetual  miracle  of  divine 
love.  It  would  be  hardly  fair  to  human  nature  to  judge 
life  from  the  standpoint  of  the  counsels  of  perfection.  The 
humble  way  of  the  Commandments  is  a  wiser  approach. 
Similarly  it  is  hardly  wise  to  judge  secular  and  social  char- 
ity, that  is  philanthropy,  from  this  exalted  point  of  view. 
Such  judgments  are  not  unknown.  It  is  well  therefore  to 
be  prepared  at  all  times  to  see  in  the  scholarship,  in  the 


138  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHAKITY 

literature,  in  the  experience  and  policies  of  modern  philan- 
thropy, everything  wholesome  that  they  contain  and  to 
cherish  the  ambition  to  profit  by  all  of  it  in  our  own  service 
of  the  divine  ideal. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE   SOCIAL  WORKER 

THE  social  worker  is  a  specialist  who  is  familiar  with 
literature,  problems  and  methods  in  the  field  of  relief. 
Whether  we  have  in  mind  the  humbler  place  of  the  beginner 
or  the  qualified  leader  and  thinker  whose  zone  of  influence 
on  policy  and  thought  constantly  widens,  the  social  worker 
is  a  specialist  in  a  line  that  develops  its  own  technique, 
traditions  and  standards.  Our  task  is  that  of  all  sane 
conservatism:  to  hold  all  that  is  good  and  true  and  avail- 
able to  present  needs  from  the  past  and  to  absorb  as  pru- 
dently as  possible  all  of  the  new  that  commends  itself  to 
impartial  judgment  and  impersonal  devotion  to  the  serv- 
ice of  the  poor.  On  all  sides  we  find  men  and  women  turning 
toward  this  field  of  activity  as  one  that  offers  opportunity 
for  noble  work.  Whether  this  is  done  in  the  religious  life 
or  in  lay  circles,  whether  one  serves  as  follower  or  leader, 
there  are  certain  traits  that  result  from  the  high  motive  of 
Christian  Charity  and  frank  recognition^  of  the  human 
limitations  which  hamper  the  noblest  efforts  of  which  we 
are  capable. 

Social  workers  should  manifest  the  passion  to  teach. 
Once  one  has  gained  insight  into  the  spiritual  grandeur 
of  the  Charity  of  Christ  and  the  impulse  to  service  has 
taken  its  place  among  the  effective  springs  of  action  in  one's 
life,  disposition  to  gain  others  to  the  cause  appears.  Pov- 
erty is  so  baffling;  the  claims  of  the  poor  are  so  urgent 
and  specific;  the  prospect  of  ever  satisfying  the  elementary 
claims  of  humanity  among  them  is  so  remote,  that  they 
who  have  the  vision  feel  called  upon  to  gain  many  others 
to  the  tasks  at  hand.  This  is  one  of  the  secrets  of  zeal 

139 


140          SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

whose  ancestry  leads  back  always  toward  a  great  and  abid- 
ing conviction.  Propaganda  in  its  nobler  form  results 
from  the  domination  of  a  great  conviction  in  life.  If  we 
foster  a  spirit  of  retirement  in  our  works  and  our  representa- 
tives feel  no  inclination  to  bring  the  fullest  information  about 
our  activities  to  general  notice,  we  shall  lack  literature  and 
aggressive  leadership.  When  this  occurs,  the  passion  to 
teach  finds  no  expression. 

Our  charities  appear  to  have  underrated  the  relation  of 
the  passion  to  teach  to  the  full  service  of  the  poor  and  of 
society.  Their  example  is  resplendent.  Their  self-effac- 
ing devotion  is  the  glory  of  the  Christian  life.  Yet  they 
have  not  felt  called  upon  to  force  upon  the  world  critical 
and  full  knowledge  of  their  work  in  the  interest  of  the  poor 
and  of  social  justice.  Insinuations  fill  the  air,  to  the  effect 
that  our  policy  as  to  institutional  care  of  children  is  mistaken 
and  ineffective.  Such  charges  are  not  met  when  we  insist 
on  the  exalted  motive  that  inspires  our  work  and  the  sac- 
rifices that  make  it  possible.  Interpretation  of  results 
done  in  effective  modern  ways  is  the  answer  that  would 
teach  the  world  the  worth  of  our  ways.  But  such  an  in- 
strument of  teaching  is  not  at  hand.  The  quality  of  work 
is  more  impressive  than  quantity.  Not  how  much,  but 
how  well.  Whatever  the  reluctance  of  those  who  seek 
silent  ways  in  the  service  of  Christ,  to  court  the  glare  of 
publicity,  when  the  interests  of  progress  demand  it,  it 
should  be  faced.  Perhaps  we  shrink  somewhat  from  a  public 
that  is  too  willing  to  misunderstand  and  misrepresent  us. 

It  may  be  that  this  reserve  in  our  work  is  a  defense 
reaction  in  the  face  of  the  larger  movement  that  loses  the 
touch  of  Christ  in  its  spirit  and  forsakes  the  ways  of  Christ 
in  its  work.  But  not  even  these  factors  should  undermine 
the  willingness  to  teach  that  accompanies  great  convictions. 
Nor  should  the  natural  reticence  of  virtue  be  permitted  to 
impose  silence  when  our  works  might  speak  with  such  force. 
Henry  James  remarks  somewhere  that  virtue  never  brings 
any  one  <mt.  It  shuts  him  in.  Not  even  our  own  workers 


THE  SOCIAL  WOKKER  141 

know  our  charities.  These  do  not  teach  ourselves.  We  love 
them.  We  contribute  to  their  support.  But  we  are  distant 
from  them  and  busy  as  Martha  was.  We  teach  the  world 
the  secrets  of  sanctity  in  the  lives  of  the  saints  in  our  spiritual 
literature.  We  expose  their  very  souls  to  the  gaze  of  the 
world  that  reveres  them  and  the  world  that  scoffs.  We  might 
encourage  our  charities  to  do  as  much.  Some  Catholic  work- 
ers excuse  their  indifference  to  the  general  movement  in 
Charity  by  asserting  that  they  have  "nothing  to  gain"  from  it. 
This  is,  of  course,  mistaken  and  inexcusable.  It  indicates 
dwarfed  standards  of  service  and  a  spirit  of  self-sufficiency. 
Were  it  true,  motive  for  active  interest  in  all  social  service 
would  be  found  in  feeling  that  we  have  "something  to  give." 

Social  workers  should  be  characterized  by  the  passion  to 
learn.  Great  convictions  make  noble  men  and  women  hum- 
ble. Devotion  to  noble  aims  awakens  ambition  to  neglect 
no  aid  and  inject  no  personal  preference  that  can  mar  pure 
devotion.  Open-mindedness,  diligent  efforts  to  gain  infor- 
mation, to  discipline  preferences,  readiness  to  confess  fail- 
ure and  seek  assistance,  to  acknowledge  superiority  and 
learn  from  it  are  elementary  in  the  ideal  social  worker. 
They  who  feel  the  touch  of  the  passion  to  learn  will  escape 
the  spirit  of  the  Pharisee.  They  will  not  assume  that  the 
share  of  wisdom  vouchsafed  to  them  is  final,  nor  will  they 
believe  or  say  that  their  opinions  are  certified  by  the  guard- 
ians of  truth  as  exclusively  true.  There  will  be  no  hiding 
of  limitations,  no  assumption  that  the  quest  of  wisdom  is  at 
an  end.  In  particular,  the  ideal  social  worker  seeks  in- 
sight from  the  accumulated  experience  of  the  past  and  pres- 
ent, from  those  who  write  and  interpret,  from  those  who 
work  and  serve.  In  no  other  way  can  the  noblest  work  in 
the  world  be  done  in  the  noblest  way. 

This  spirit  should  direct  organizations  as  well  as  work- 
ers. Those  should  never  drift  into  the  feeling  that  they 
have  nothing  to  learn,  into  the  assumption  that  their  ways 
and  views  are  vindicated  for  all  time.  They  should  seek 
contact  with  every  related  agency  from  which  they  can 


142 

learn.  Now  this  should  be  done  with  discrimination. 
One  should  believe  firmly  in  one's  own  traditions,  one's  past 
and  one's  achievements.  Disparagement  of  one's  work  un- 
der belief  that  one  is  wrong  and  others  are  right  is  proof 
of  weakness,  indecision,  and  a  hint  of  ineffective  work. 
The  main  danger  in  respect  of  this  is  in  believing  that  what 
is  old  is  right  and  what  is  new  is  wrong.  Onesidedness  is 
always  easy  since  it  is  abandon  to  temperament.  Balance 
is  difficult  yet  wise  men  seek  it  and  maintain  it  at  any 
cost. 

Throughout  all  life,  there  are  limitations  in  fact  as  well 
as  in  power,  which  hold  one  in  such  subjection  that  im- 
pulse to  fight  against  them  is  lost.  One's  resources  will 
guide  one's  service  as  effectively  as  one's  convictions.  If 
the  ideal  school  is  one  teacher  and  one  pupil,  one  teacher  to 
sixty  pupils  is  a  compromise  due  to  limitations,  not  to  pref- 
erence. If  one  tuberculous  patient  should  not  be  depressed 
by  enforced  association  with  a  hundred,  the  sanitarium  rep- 
resents a  surrender  of  an  ideal  in  the  face  of  hard  limita- 
tions of  life.  If  every  orphan  should  be  in  a  normal  home 
— and  who  would  deny  that  this  is  the  ideal — it  may  be 
that  the  needs  of  the  children,  our  limitations  of  resources 
and  the  cost  in  personnel  and  money,  impose  the  institution 
upon  us  as  a  compromise.  Hence  it  is  necessary  to  bear  in 
mind  that  our  methods  in  Charity  represent  our  means 
as  often  as  our  preferences,  perhaps  more  often.  But 
when  this  is  the  case,  it  is  well  to  remember  that  we  should 
be  ready  always  to  adopt  any  method  that  will  approach 
our  own  convictions  free  from  the  tyranny  of  our  limita- 
tions. And  it  is  in  this  way  that  the  passion  to  learn  holds 
us  pledged  to  wisdom  as  the  way  is  made  clear.  We  have 
no  ordinary  expectation  of  learning  anything  new  about 
the  fundamental  spiritual  character  of  Charity  and  its  place 
in  the  Christian  life.  Gifted  men  may  arouse  us  and 
quicken  our  response  to  the  touch  of  its  moral  grandeur. 
But  we  must  hold  to  childlike  readiness  to  learn  how  best 
to  serve  this  exalted  ideal.  We  must  be  restless  in  learn- 


THE  SOCIAL  WORKER  143 

ing  all  that  may  make  us  more  worthy  of  the  service  of  the 
poor.  The  spirit  is  our  chief  concern.  Once  it  is  firmly 
established  it  will  find  its  own  way. 

Social  workers  should  possess  the  passion  for  efficiency. 
This  passion  leads  directly  to  the  watching  of  results,  to 
scrutiny  of  standards  in  fact  as  well  as  in  profession,  to 
patience  with  detail  and  the  habit  of  finishing  what  is 
begun.  The  "follow  up"  in  relief  work  is  the  legitimate 
child  of  the  passion  for  efficiency.  The  Good  Samaritan 
"remembered"  and  promised  to  return  next  day.  The  dis- 
like of  the  word  efficiency  that  was  engendered  in  labor 
circles  when  it  was  introduced  as  indicating  a  method  of 
cold-blooded  "driving"  of  labor  was  perhaps  justified.  But 
to-day  the  efficiency  engineer  is  the  friend  of  the  laborer. 
The  efficiency  in  Charity  which  indicates  statistics  rather 
than  souls,  calculation  of  finance  that  loses  humanities  from 
view,  gratuitous  red  tape  that  makes  positions  and  attaches 
desirable  salaries  to  them,  may  well  meet  condemnation. 

But  no  one  may  challenge  the  need  of  thoroughness  and 
economy,  of  avoidance  of  waste  effort,  of  thorough  and 
complete  work  on  cases  undertaken;  of  wholehearted  and 
well  articulated  cooperation ;  of  checking  up  workers  to  pro- 
tect the  poor  against  mistaken  ways,  careless  habits  and 
futile  activities.  No  one  can  doubt  that  we  owe  to  society 
and  the  State  and  the  Church  the  lessons  of  our  experience 
in  dealing  with  the  poor.  These  lessons  cannot  be  saved 
except  by  use  of  the  methods  which  make  all  archives  for 
history,  all  material  for  biography,  all  sources  for  the  posi- 
tive vindication  of  the  Church — careful  records.  Let  us 
differ  as  we  may  as  to  detail  and  form  and  custody  of  rec- 
ords. It  is  not  easy  to  see  how  we  can  be  thorough  without 
them. 

Again  we  meet  the  basic  question  of  standards.  If 
Charity  aims  merely  at  the  immediate  needs  of  a  dependent 
family  and  has  only  secondary  concern  as  to  its  permanent 
rehabilitation,  records  are  hardly  needed.  But  if  we  must 
reenforce  our  work  by  the  best  that  men  have  done  and  if 


144          SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

high  aims  in  service  should  lead  us  to  set  up  exacting 
standards,  every  test  of  efficiency  could  be  welcomed  and 
met. 

The  social  worker  should  manifest  a  laudable  passion  to 
serve.  Self-seeking,  odious  comparisons,  and  the  like  have 
no  place  in  the  ranks  of  Charity.  They  who  seek  distinc- 
tion, aim  at  place  and  hold  it  without  regard  to  the  interests 
of  the  work  are  poor  apostles  at  best.  The  ugly  phrase 
"team  work"  borrowed  from  dumb  animals  does  express  an 
ideal.  The  spirit  of  Charity  is  self-effacing.  No  lover 
of  the  poor  will  wish  to  gain  advantage  and  make  of  it  a 
motive.  Rather  will  all  workers  show  an  impersonal  zeal, 
a  simple  and  direct  idealism  which  makes  them  "easy  to 
work  with."  It  is  possible  that  we  at  times  fail  to  realize 
the  implications  of  our  position  that  Charity  is  spiritual, 
a  form  of  worship,  of  the  supernatural  order,  and  that  self- 
seeking  through  it  is  a  form  of  desecration.  Good-humored 
readiness  to  serve  anywhere,  to  lead  or  to  follow,  avoidance 
of  comparisons,  jealousies,  factions  must  be  looked  for 
among  those  who  serve  the  charity  of  Christ,  and  lack  of 
these  qualities  must  be  lamented  as  indicating  the  triumph 
of  self-seeking  almost  within  the  sanctuary. 

The  passion  for  sacrifice  is  the  last  of  the  passions  of 
Charity  which  may  be  mentioned.  Readiness  to  sacri- 
fice ease,  preference  and  temperament  for  the  sake  of  thor- 
ough and  prompt  performance  of  duty  that  has  been  as- 
sumed is  fundamental.  It  has  a  particular  meaning  for 
the  volunteer.  Faithful  attendance  at  meetings  of  organi- 
zations, full  service  on  committees  to  which  one  is  ap- 
pointed, attention  to  detail  in  relief  work  appear  as  natural 
consequences  of  any  conviction,  notably  of  that  which  leads 
one  into  the  service  of  the  poor.  This  passion  for  sacrifice 
is  in  no  way  in  conflict  with  compensation  for  service  in 
the  field.  The  paid  trained  worker  has  as  much  opportu- 
nity to  cultivate  this  spirit  and  obey  its  behests  as  any 
volunteer.  They  err  surely  against  the  facts  and  against 
Charity  who  assume  that  any  indignity  attaches  to  pay- 


THE  SOCIAL  WORKER  145 

merit  for  service  of  the  poor,  or  that  any  exemption  from 
ordinary  human  weakness  is  guaranteed  to  those  who  serve 
as  volunteers. 

We  may  with  fairness  ask  those  who  hecome  our  leaders 
in  social  work  to  display  these  elementary  passions  of  Char- 
ity; the  passions  to  teach,  to  learn,  to  he  efficient,  to  serve 
and  to  make  sacrifice.  This  same  spirit  should  be  found 
permeating  all  organizations,  making  certain,  harmony  in 
thought  and  cooperation  in  fact.  And  throughout  the 
great  army  of  those  won  to  love  of  the  poor  by  the  call 
of  the  Redeemer  these  traits  should  appear  in  every  policy 
and  influence  every  judgment  as  conditions  invite. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  LITERATURE  OF  BELIEF 

ALL  great  social  interests  produce  literature.  It  is  the 
depository  of  insight,  memory  and  power.  It  sets  forth 
ideals  and  clothes  them  with  charm.  It  saves  the  past  to 
the  present.  It  puts  all  parts  of  a  great  social  interest  in 
constant  touch  with  one  another.  It  makes  available  to 
the  least  the  wisdom  of  the  greatest.  It  silences  misrep- 
resentation, places  defense  against  attack  on  effective  foot- 
ing and  becomes  the  channel  through  which  traditions  flow 
to  oncoming  generations.  In  a  world  of  practically  univer- 
sal education,  general  reading  and  sharp  controversy,  lit- 
erature becomes  so  necessary  that  it  seems  impossible  to 
argue  the  case.  Statement  alone  is  supreme  argument. 
The  Catholic  Church  without  literature:  Democracy  with- 
out literature:  a  people  without  literature:  a  great  cause 
without  literature:  art  without  literature  can  scarcely  be 
imagined.  Record,  explanation,  propaganda,  defense  depend 
on  literature  fundamentally. 

Now  literature,  if  it  would  appeal  to  a  time,  must  take 
account  of  the  streams  of  thought  and  direction  of  endeavor. 
It  cannot  impose;  it  must  to  a  large  extent  accept  the 
point  of  view  from  which  it  will  speak.  The  prevailing 
view  of  poverty  is  sociological.  It  is  seen  not  alone  as 
dependency  but  also  as  a  class  condition,  political  condition, 
spiritual  condition.  The  social  processes  involved  in  it 
are  observed  and  policies  with  their  standards  of  service  are 
adapted  to  the  understanding  of  them.  The  scholarship, 
and,  to  some  extent,  the  statesmanship  of  the  time  have 
gained  this  wider  vision  and  they  attempt  to  guide  their 
efforts  in  its  light.  We  may  review  the  situation  from  cer- 

146 


THE  LITEKATUEE  OF  RELIEF  147 

tain  standpoints  and  in  this  way  gain  a  basis  of  classifica- 
tion and  self-criticism.  The  facts  in  poverty  ought  to  be 
known.  Conditions  ought  to  be  interpreted  with  care  in 
order  that  the  real  meaning  of  symptoms  be  mastered. 
Policies  and  methods  should  be  based  on  these  interpreta- 
tions. Values  and  motives  in  the  service  of  the  poor  ought 
to  be  proclaimed  and  understood.  These  four  great  services 
are  rendered  in  the  literature  of  Investigation,  Interpreta- 
tion, Direction  and  Inspiration.  Books  are  not  necessarily 
produced  according  to  this  classification.  One  may  find 
all  four  points  of  view  on  a  single  page.  But  the  view- 
points must  be  held  in  good  faith  if  we  are  to  develop  a 
forceful  literature.  It  is  impossible  that  any  movement 
looking  toward  social  ideals  should  develop  independently 
of  such  literature. 

The  literature  of  Investigation  is  devoted  to  exact  ac- 
count and  classification  of  the  bald  facts  of  poverty.  In- 
vestigation leads  to  the  discovery  of  the  poor,  of  all  of 
them.  It  sends  us  in  search  of  them,  into  the  dark  valleys 
where  their  voices  are  not  heard.  It  puts  into  our  charity 
a  positive  active,  purposeful  quest.  We  do  not  wait  for 
chance  to  bring  a  few  of  the  poor  to  our  attention.  We 
do  not  look  upon  Charity  as  an  optional  or  occasional  vir- 
tue. We  are  urged  by  the  sanctity  of  the  work  and  we  find 
delay  irksome.  Careful  investigation  drives  away  under- 
statement and  overstatement  about  the  facts  of  poverty  and 
makes  known  real  conditions  as  this  is  possible.  It  sub- 
stitutes actual  facts  for  vague  impressions  and  asks  our  good 
will  to  stand  the  test  of  genuineness  by  seeking  and  facing 
facts.  If  we  make  no  attempt  in  a  forceful  and  schol- 
arly way  to  find  all  of  our  poor  in  a  modern  city,  shall  we 
ever  feel  certain  that  our  duty  toward  them  is  done?  The 
fact  that  we  serve  as  many  poor  as  our  means  allow  does 
not  solve  the  problem.  Not  our  means  but  the  need  of  the 
poor  should  be  our  guide.  And  even  when  our  means  are 
exhausted,  we  can  reach  other  social  resources,  working 
with  and  through  general  agencies  in  the  cause  of  social 


148          SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

justice.  Were  the  poor  vociferous  and  aggressive  we  might 
wait  on  them  to  claim  our  help.  But  as  they  are  more 
worthy,  they  are  less  in  evidence.  And  they  may  be  found 
inert  and  hopeless  in  numbers  that  shame  us  in  every  great 
industrial  center. 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  some  find  it  dignified  and 
timely  to  deride  statistics  and  formal  research  in  the  service 
of  charity.  But  no  other  plan  of  finding  the  poor  is  offered 
to  us.  Exact  statistical  studies  of  industrial  accidents  led 
to  reforms  that  save  tens  of  thousands  of  lives  annually. 
The  chance  meeting  with  a  homeless  man  may  rouse  the 
impulse  to  serve  him  but  only  accurate  information  con- 
cerning all  of  the  homeless  men  in  a  great  city  can  arouse 
the  public  or  lead  to  effective  measures  in  respect  of  them. 
Vague  statements  are  made  to  the  effect  that  "many"  girls 
trained  in  orphan  asylums  go  wrong.  Who  knows  how 
many?  Who  can  combat  the  impression  without  the  aid 
of  exact  information  concerning  such  girls?  How  may 
we  possess  it  except  through  investigation?  It  is  said 
that  wife  desertion  is  increasingly  a  cause  of  poverty. 
How  shall  we  deal  with  extradition  laws  and  change  them, 
force  wise  policies  upon  public  officials  in  whose  discretion 
such  laws  are  placed  without  the  aid  of  exact  studies,  inves- 
tigation of  wife  desertion  as  a  fact  and  as  a  factor  in  de- 
pendency. The  knowledge  that  a  child  in  the  grades  has 
heart  trouble  will  cause  no  stir.  But  if  investigation 
shows  that  a  certain  percentage  of  school  children  have 
weak  hearts,  we  are  impressed  and  we  study  to  control  their 
play,  stair  climbing  and  athletics.  How  shall  we  ever  deal 
with  undernourishment  of  children,  needless  deaths  of 
mothers  and  infants,  involuntary  idleness,  illiteracy,  delin- 
quency, the  breakdown  of  the  home  and  housing  conditions, 
the  injustices  of  the  wages  system,  without  careful  study 
that  will  set  the  quantities  of  the  facts  before  the  conscience 
of  the  world  ?  How  shall  we  interest  men  of  wealth,  legis- 
lators and  public  leaders  if  instead  of  facts  carefully  gath- 
ered, we  offer  them  vague  impressions,  affirmations  and  as- 


THE  LITEKATUEE  OF  EELIEF  149 

sumptions  that  can  command  the  attention  of  no  serious 
man? 

We  must  behold  with  gratitude  and  admiration  the  army 
of  scholars,  research  students,  government  officials,  faculties 
of  schools  and  philanthropic  agencies  that  are  engaged  in 
the  tedious  and  endless  task  of  finding  the  facts  in  poverty 
and  placing  them  before  us  in  the  general  literature  of  In- 
vestigation. If  we  have  any  reason  to  complain  about 
apathy  toward  the  poor,  we  will  find  that  that  apathy  is  in 
inverse  ratio  to  information  about  the  facts  in  poverty. 

Sometimes  we  meet  those  who  speak  with  scorn  or  sar- 
casm about  statistical  methods  in  charity.  John  Boyle 
O'Keilly  rendered  poor  service  to  humanity  and  Christian 
sympathy  when  he  gave  to  the  use  of  such  critics  his  unfor- 
tunate lines  on  the  Statistical  Christ.  Ridicule  is  not  the 
customary  weapon  of  well-informed  men.  That  we  find 
much  useless  labor  and  fantastic  extremes  in  the  use  of 
statistics  is  as  true  as  that  we  find  the  same  qualities  in 
political  conventions,  law  processes,  social  formalities  and 
education.  The  scholarly  mind  endeavors  to  find  wherein 
statistics  may  be  of  aid  in  its  performance  of  the  heavy 
duty  of  finding  the  poor  and  caring  for  them  faithfully. 
Statisticians  constantly  warn  us  about  the  reservations  with 
which  all  statistics  must  be  used. 

When  facts  are  staggering  in  number,  we  attempt  totals, 
averages,  classifications  as  short  forms  from  which  to  draw 
guidance  in  devising  general  measures  to  meet  them.  The 
statistical  table  does  for  the  student  of  social  conditions 
and  processes  just  what  the  microscope  does  in  the  labora- 
tory. It  gives  enlarged  vision  and  insight  otherwise  im- 
possible. National  life  is  unthinkable  without  vast  col- 
lections of  facts  in  every  phase  of  life.  We  have  only 
impressions  about  divorce,  crime,  religions,  trade,  eco- 
nomic progress  and  the  like  until  investigators  place  in 
our  hands  well-tested  tables  indicating  the  facts  as  trained 
minds  can  find  and  classify  them.  The  world  recognizes 
and  respects  statistics  and  statisticians  and  gratefully  uses 


150          SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

their  work  while  making  due  allowance  for  elements  of 
error  which  must  be  expected.  The  case  for  statistics  and 
every  resource  of  art  and  ingenuity  in  enabling  us  to  vis- 
ualize facts  and  movements  of  facts  is  strong  enough  to 
be  dismissed.  But  it  has  a  relation  to  Catholic  work  and 
Catholic  agencies  which  we  may  not  dismiss  readily. 

The  literature  of  Investigation  of  problems  of  poverty 
that  concern  Catholic  charities  is  extremely  meager.  The 
impulse  to  study  the  extent  of  the  claims  of  poverty  on  us 
has  not  been  developed.  The  statement  is  made  on  every 
side  that  in  our  large  cities,  a  rather  high  percentage  of 
relief  given  by  civic  charities  is  given  to  Catholic  poor 
whom  our  agencies  do  not  reach.  There  is  probably  not  a 
single  investigation  of  any  representative  city  in  the  United 
States  made  by  our  own  workers,  which  would  enable  us 
to  answer  the  questions  which  this  view  raises.  The  state- 
ment has  been  made  in  a  number  of  cities  that  Catholic 
children  come  as  delinquents  before  the  juvenile  courts  in 
a  proportion  higher  than  the  proportion  of  Catholics  in  the 
total  population.  No  study  of  juvenile  delinquency  has 
been  made  by  any  of  our  students  or  agencies  which  would 
assure  us  of  the  accuracy  of  such  statements  or  explain 
them  if  they  are  substantially  correct.  While  general  lit- 
erature of  investigation  is  available  to  us  in  our  work,  spe- 
cific literature  on  our  distinctive  problems  is  much  to  be 
desired. 

In  a  minor  way,  the  point  applies  to  our  own  agencies. 
A  vital  portion  of  the  literature  of  Investigation  relates 
to  agencies  themselves.  Their  methods,  results,  experience 
must  be  tabulated  if  we  are  to  have  any  real  information 
on  their  thoroughness.  Two  surveys  of  agencies  have  been 
made  in  the  diocese  of  Pittsburgh  and  the  Archdiocese  of 
New  York.  Similar  investigations  throughout  all  of  our 
charities  would  do  much  to  vindicate  and  improve  the  work 
that  is  done  under  direction  of  the  Church. 

Since  the  work  of  investigation  is  that  of  a  scholar,  train- 
ing for  it  is  necessary.  Not  every  one  is  an  investigator. 


THE  LITEKATUKE  OF  EELIEF  151 

Until  recent  years  we  prepared  no  research  students  for 
work  of  this  kind.  There  is  promise  of  rapid  and  helpful 
development  shown  on  all  sides  now.  Every  encouragement 
should  be  given  to  those  who  devote  themselves  to  this  ex- 
acting task.  Perhaps  this  is  best  done  on  the  part  of  our 
leaders,  organizations  and  workers  by  showing  interest  in 
such  investigations  and  recognition  of  their  place  among 
the  forces  that  assert  the  spiritual  ideal  in  charity.  A 
few  years  since,  an  appeal  was  published  asking  our  relief 
organizations  to  search  their  records  for  five  years  and 
report  on  a  single  form  all  cases  where  wife  desertion  ap- 
peared as  the  cause  of  dependency.  Information  was 
asked  as  to  extradition  laws  that  might  play  a  role  in  recall- 
ing the  recreant  husband.  Although  three  thousand  copies 
of  the  appeal  went  out,  not  a  single  reply  was  received. 
This  attempt  aimed  at  investigation  of  facts.  It  failed. 
The  problem  is  fundamental.  It  affects  the  doctrinal  and 
moral  character  of  marriage  as  a  sacrament.  Yet  a  condition 
of  universal  apathy  was  discovered.  We  shall  have  no 
literature  of  investigation  so  long  as  such  apathy  endures. 
Few  trained  investigators  will  arise  if  their  efforts  meet 
no  sympathy.  And  so  long  as  we  lack  a  distinctive  litera- 
ture of  investigation  in  peculiar  Catholic  problems,  we 
shall  fall  short  of  the  inspiration  that  would  come  from 
a  full  knowledge  of  all  of  the  claims  of  our  poor  on  our 
help  and  sympathy. 

Another  aspect  of  this  thought  may  be  touched  on  in  the 
attitude  of  our  agencies  and  institutions  toward  students 
not  of  the  Church  who  seek  information  about  our  work 
and  policies.  Refusal  to  give  it,  failure  to  answer  inquiries 
can  but  perpetuate  the  condition  that  leaves  us  out  of  con- 
sideration in  general  social  activities.  When  such  inquiries 
find  us  without  the  information  sought,  not  our  principles 
but  our  plight  dictates  our  policy.  This  is  said  to  trace  a 
new  spirit,  set  forth  a  new  need  in  our  work  and  encourage 
beginnings.  It  is  not  difficult  to  account  for  much  in  our 
failure  to  develop  a  critical  literature  of  investigation.  We 


152  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHAKITY 

may  have  been  so  busy  serving  the  poor  whom  we  found  that 
we  had  no  time  to  count  those  whom  we  served  or  those  who 
had  need  of  our  services.  It  may  be  that  they  who  might 
have  been  investigators  were  so  much  engaged  in  actual  duties 
of  relief  that  none  had  the  leisure  and  knowledge  required 
for  work  of  this  kind.  It  may  be  that  many  who  might 
have  done  such  work  refrained  from  it  in  the  belief  that  it 
was  useless  or  opposed  to  the  spirit  in  which  charity  should 
be  dispensed.  Whatever  the  explanation,  conditions  now 
urge  upon  us  the  task  of  developing  ability  to  conduct 
investigations.  Critical  methods  are  orthodox. 

Knowledge  of  our  own  problems  is  a  first  source  of  inspira- 
tion to  face  them.  Full  information  as  to  every  point 
where  we  fall  short  of  our  own  tasks  is  a  source  of  energy 
and  courage.  Humble  recognition  of  our  shortcomings  is 
more  certainly  in  keeping  with  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel 
than  is  boastful  assurance  of  the  superior  quality  of  our 
work.  And  we  are  prone  to  rest  content  with  this  feeling. 
Our  heritage  is  rich.  But  it  is  due  to  our  good  fortune, 
not  to  our  deserving.  The  measure  of  personal  achieve- 
ment is  found  in  the  way  in  which  we  add  to  the  inheritance 
that  came  to  us. 

Facts  as  such  carry  us  but  a  short  distance  in  this  world. 
We  must  know  what  they  mean.  They  are  symptoms  of 
processes  whose  meanings  lie  beneath  the  surface.  The  pas- 
sion to  understand  accompanies  the  passion  to  know.  Statis- 
tics are  of  themselves  dumb.  They  cannot  satisfy  the  soul. 
We  are  driven  to  seek  causes  and  relations.  Efforts  to  find 
these  create  the  literature  of  Interpretation.  A  fact  or  a 
series  of  facts  may  indicate  one  of  many  processes  at  work. 
Scholarship  does  not  rest  from  its  labors  until  these  are 
found.  We  crave  explanations.  When  those  that  are  true 
are  not  at  hand,  those  that  are  mistaken  appear.  Myths  occur 
everywhere;  as  frequently  among  civilized  as  among  primi- 
tive peoples.  Myths  are  fancied  explanations  while  those  of 
science  fall  much  nearer  the  truth  and  are  more  safely  ac- 
cepted. Coincidences,  plausibilities,  impressions  are  found 


THE  LITEKATUKE  OF  RELIEF  153 

everywhere.  Only  critical  care  redeems  us  from  their  tyr- 
anny and  reveals  true  meaning  of  facts  to  us.  The  litera- 
ture of  Interpretation  is  the  herald  of  truth.  It  does  not 
compass  all  pertinent  truth.  It  does  give  us  much  truth  and 
it  releases  us  from  ignorance  and  error  in  judgment  and 
policy  in  dealing  with  poverty. 

It  is  of  utmost  importance  that  we  know  the  facts  of 
mortality  of  mothers  and  infants.  If  the  death  rate  is 
abnormally  high,  we  are  aroused.  Investigation  tells  us 
this.  Interpretation  endeavors  to  tell  us  why  it  is  so  high. 
If  it  shows  that  tens  of  thousands  of  these  deaths  are  need- 
less, due  to  ignorance  of  victims,  lack  of  medical  and  sani- 
tary resources,  lack  of  nurses,  indifference  to  elementary 
demands  of  medical  standards,  we  are  aroused  and  directed 
toward  remedial  and  preventive  work.  If  interpretation 
shows  a  direct  relation  between  decreasing  family  income 
and  increasing  death  rates  we  gain  new  insight  and  work 
against  causes  that  we  see.  It  is  important  to  know  the 
extent  of  drunkenness  among  the  poor  and  the  laboring 
class  in  general.  But  interpretation  must  tell  us  the  causes 
and  conditions  that  lead  to  drunkenness.  Here  alone  do  we 
approach  the  truth  that  we  seek,  the  meaning  of  the  facts 
that  we  know.  A  word  takes  meaning  from  the  words  that 
accompany  it  in  a  sentence.  A  fact  takes  meaning  from 
the  facts  that  accompany  it.  Investigation  finds  words. 
Interpretation  builds  sentences  and  reveals  meaning.  Dis- 
ease, accident,  and  death  as  facts  in  industry  must  be  inves- 
tigated. But  only  when  we  interpret  them  in  their  setting 
do  we  know  what  they  mean.  The  splendid  results  that 
we  have  seen  in  protecting  life,  health  and  limb  in  industry 
are  due  primarily  to  the  patient  and  subtle  research  of 
men  and  women  who  spared  no  effort  to  find  and  interpret 
these  basic  facts  of  industrial  and  social  life. 

We  are  urged  to  seek  and  classify  the  facts  in  juvenile 
delinquency.  Investigation  does  this.  But  interpretation 
alone  reveals  the  full  meaning  of  these  facts  to  us.  One  boy 
is  a  delinquent  because  he  is  abnormally  keen;  another,  be- 


154          SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

cause  he  is  dull.  Many  are  delinquent  because  of  lack  of 
facilities  for  normal  play.  We  seek  the  facts  of  truancy 
by  investigation.  But  interpretation  tells  us  whether  it 
indicates  parental  neglect  or  fault  of  teachers  or  wayward- 
ness in  the  truant  himself.  Thus  we  feel  driven  by  deep 
love  of  the  poor  to  search  them  out;  to  study  every  phase 
of  conditions  among  them  in  their  endless  complexities. 
We  then  seek  meanings  in  the  simple  hope  of  understand- 
ing our  problems  and  dealing  with  them  with  good  effect. 

So  long  as  we  see  only  the  individual  or  single  family  in 
poverty,  investigation  and  interpretation  may  follow  narrow 
lines  and  we  may  avoid  the  complexities  of  larger  life. 
But  who  that  loves  the  poor  and  would  serve  all  as  well  as 
one,  will  fail  to  widen  his  view  and  see  poverty  as  it  is — 
a  plight  of  human  society,  the  distress  of  uncounted  thou- 
sands among  whom  institutions  are  defeated  and  civilization 
is  forced  backward.  Only  from  this  standpoint  can  we  see 
the  determining  role  of  social  factors,  social  arrangements, 
social  estrangement  and  error  of  every  kind  in  the  poverty 
of  men,  women  and  children.  Where  our  vision  is  sharp- 
ened by  love  of  fellowmen  who  are  very  dear  to  God  and 
helpless  against  conditions,  we  extend  our  search  from  the 
one  to  the  many  in  any  type  of  distress  and  in  that  larger 
surface  we  see  the  sullen  action  of  the  forces  that  issue  in 
the  distress  of  the  poor.  Now  this  is  primarily  the  mission 
of  the  literature  of  Interpretation.  It  has  drawn  the 
mind  of  the  world  to  deeper  understanding  of  life  and  its 
processes.  It  has  brought  the  varied  ingenuity  of  science 
and  the  patience  born  of  great  ideals  to  our  service  in  learn- 
ing as  nearly  as  we  may  the  manner  in  which  poverty  is 
the  outcome  of  our  institutions  and  life. 

We  have  relatively  little  literature  of  Investigation  in 
the  field  of  distinctive  Catholic  problems.  Literature  of 
Interpretation  is  lacking  in  the  same  degree.  It  is  true 
that  social  processes  operate  with  no  regard  to  differences 
of  religion,  philosophy  or  race.  Hence  general  social  in- 
vestigations and  interpretations  are  available  to  us  in  our 


THE  LITEKATUKE  OF  BELIEF  155 

work.  But  there  is  a  distinct  Catholic  morality,  a  distinct 
Catholic  philosophy  of  life  and  faith,  a  distinct  scale  of 
social  and  moral  valuations,  a  distinct  view  of  sin,  of  social 
responsibility  and  a  distinct  type  of  conscience  due  to  the 
sacramental  ministry  and  religious  training.  On  this  account 
there  is  a  place  for  a  distinct  literature  of  Interpretation 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  Church. 

Sociological  interpretations  prevail  to-day  very  generally. 
Spiritual  interpretations  seem  strangely  out  of  place  in 
arguing  on  minimum  wage,  housing  conditions  or  the  rela- 
tions of  playgrounds  to  delinquency.  Settled  antipathy  to 
the  words  "sin,"  "repentance"  is  general.  Statistics  may 
not  reach  the  forces  of  the  spiritual  world  which  are  inter- 
nal, personal  and  transforming,  but  interpretations  which 
miss  these  are  short  of  full  truth  if  God  is  always  our 
God.  The  impulse  to  apologize  for  constant  allusions  to 
God,  soul,  spiritual  duty,  character  and  divine  law  in  this 
study  of  poverty  and  charity  asserts  itself  daily  as  these 
pages  are  written  because  sociology,  economics  and  statis-' 
tics  have  gained  ascendency  and  we  are  affected  by  their 
prevailing  spirit.  Some  power  must  force  and  save  the 
spiritual  interpretation  of  poverty  or  the  world  will  lose 
its  soul. 

One  may  not  overlook  the  limitations  of  spiritual  inter- 
pretation. They  may  not  be  purely  emotional.  Preach- 
ing and  teaching  in  abstract  principles  alone  will  hardly 
interfere  with  the  placid  conscience  of  a  Church  member 
who  oppresses  the  poor.  Preaching  and  teaching  the  law 
of  God  must  be  done  in  the  light  of  clearest  understanding 
of  social  processes  and  adequate  information  about  facts 
and  processes  of  industry  and  life.  The  benevolent  work  of 
the  representative  of  religion  is  not  confined  to  the  pulpit. 
As  citizen  and  scholar  he  has  a  role  of  great  power.  In  order 
to  hold  spiritual  interpretations  before  the  continental 
pressure  of  sociological  thinking,  he  must  be  informed, 
capable  and  determined.  The  religious  leader  who  knows 


156          SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHAKITY 

conditions,  and  interpretations  of  social  investigators  work- 
ing in  the  field  of  feeble-mindedness  in  relation  to  immorality 
ought  to  be  far  wiser  as  teacher  and  ahaper  of  policies  than 
one  who  preaches  on  sin  and  repentance  alone  and  has  no 
critical  information  beyond. 

The  literature  of  Investigation  finds  and  states  our 
problems.  The  literature  of  Interpretation  explains  them, 
their  relations,  causes  and  processes.  The  literature  of 
Direction  tells  us  how  to  deal  with  them.  Poverty  is  so 
massive,  causes  are  so  subtle  and  the  work  of  relief  and 
prevention  is  so  complicated  and  delicate  that  we  have  need 
of  utmost  care  in  everything  that  we  do.  The  literature 
of  Direction  sets  up  standards,  interprets  experience,  warns 
against  pitfalls,  discourages  waste  of  effort  and  shortsighted 
service.  As  men  and  women  of  sympathy  and  experience 
gain  understanding  of  poverty  and  its  varied  effects  on 
character,  they  develop  a  method,  a  technique  that  repre- 
sents thoughtful  study  and  careful  tests.  Critical  judgment 
of  methods  of  institutions  is  established  and  the  wisdom 
of  the  most  capable  becomes  the  heritage  of  all  who  will 
to  profit  by  it.  There  are  wise  and  unwise  ways  of  con- 
ducting a  day  nursery.  There  are  helpful  and  harmful  ways 
possible  in  dealing  with  children  in  institutions.  There  are 
helpful  and  harmful  ways  of  placing  children  in  normal 
homes. 

It  is  the  happy  function  of  the  literature  of  Direction  to 
harvest  the  ways  that  are  approved  in  dealing  with  every 
problem,  to  preserve  them  and  serve  in  the  guidance  of 
those  new  to  the  work.  The  ambition  to  develop  such  a 
literature  stimulates  workers  to  thoughtful  observation  of 
their  own  work.  The  possession  of  such  a  literature 
enriches  the  resources  of  our  charity  many  times  and  pro- 
motes, as  nothing  else  can,  the  development  of  progressive 
standards  in  relief.  Direction  follows  interpretation. 
Once  we  have  found  cause  and  meaning  of  drunkenness,  or 
occupational  diseases,  or  blindness  among  infants,  or  unem- 


THE  LITERATURE  OF  RELIEF  157 

ployment,  or  shiftlessness  we  can  adapt  methods  to  situa- 
tions and  work  in  the  light  of  understanding. 

All  who  work  among  the  poor  follow  some  kind  of  method 
by  that  very  fact.  They  need  no  literature  if  all  methods 
are  equally  good.  But  if  social  workers  can  help  one 
another  in  case  conferences;  if  the  wisdom  of  many  is  of 
more  authority  than  that  of  one,  it  must  be  worth  while 
to  preserve  in  permanent  form  the  fruits  of  experience. 
Literature  alone  can  do  this.  The  fund  of  experience  gath- 
ered at  much  cost  in  mistakes  and  experiments  is  precious. 
It  would  be  strange  if  any  real  lover  of  the  poor  were  to 
believe  that  his  impulses  and  temperament  were  sufficient  to 
equip  him  and  that  he  had  nothing  to  learn  from  the  past, 
nothing  from  the  wide  and  varied  present  as  literature 
preserves  and  interprets  their  lessons  to  us.  In  propor- 
tion as  organizations  and  individuals  assume  the  role  of 
direction  in  the  vast  field  of  our  charities  it  becomes 
increasingly  important  that  they  master  such  literature  and 
incorporate  its  available  lessons  in  method  into  their  spirit 
and  policies. 

Our  literature  of  Direction  is  not  abundant.  Of  course, 
general  literature  of  this  kind  is  available  in  quantity  and 
quality  to  meet  many  of  our  needs  in  practical  work.  But 
the  rich  resources  of  faith  and  brotherhood  in  it  suggest 
our  own  need  of  a  particular  literature  of  Direction.  Yet 
we  have  but  little.  Religious  communities  develop  method 
and  traditions  in  the  work  that  they  do.  This  may  meet 
their  needs  admirably,  but  a  literature  to  which  all  would 
contribute  the  lessons  of  their  experience  ought  to  enrich 
each.  Yet  we  have  practically  none  of  this  kind.  In  view 
of  the  vastness  of  our  charities  and  the  tens  of  thousands 
of  Sisters,  Brothers,  laity  and  priests  who  are  devoted  to 
some  form  of  care  of  the  poor,  it  is  surprising  that  so  little 
effort  has  been  made  to  contribute  to  the  general  literature 
of  relief,  the  lessons  gained  in  our  own  charities.  The 
nature  of  the  religious  life,  the  deeper  impulses  which 
prompt  one  to  hide  in  God  and  not  display  before  man,  the 


158          SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

work  done  in  His  name,  will  account  in  part  for  this  condi- 
tion. But  one  can  hardly  surrender  the  feeling  that  our 
works  would  be  more  thorough  and  our  services  would  escape 
much  misrepresentation,  had  we  developed  a  vigorous  litera- 
ture covering  our  distinctive  works. 

All  of  the  great  movements  in  human  history  are  directed 
by  ideals.  Standards  are  derived  from  them  and  inspiration 
is  due  to  them.  The  high  motives  that  lift  man  into  freedom 
find  their  origin  and  measure  in  these  ideals.  It  is  the  func- 
tion of  the  literature  of  Inspiration  to  set  forth  the  ideals  of 
Catholic  Charity,  to  make  known  its  complete  supernatural 
setting  in  the  life  of  the  soul  and  to  hold  forth  the  exalted 
motive  which  guides  its  hand  in  service.  Charity  is  a  doc- 
trine of  our  relations  to  God  and  to  one  another  in  Jesus 
Christ.  It  is  an  attitude  taken  in  obedience  to  that  truth. 
It  is  service  following  attitude  and  conviction.  God  is  begin- 
ning and  end  in  charity.  Men  are  brothers  in  dignity,  person 
and  destiny.  Mutual  love,  mutual  service  in  every  form  of 
need,  whether  of  mind  or  body  or  soul  flows  out  of  this  rela- 
tionship and  appear  as  normal  phases  of  supernatural  life. 
Prayer,  fasting  and  almsgiving,  worship,  discipline  and  serv- 
ice are  from  one  spirit  and  one  law — that  of  love  of  God  and 
love  of  man  in  God. 

The  Gospel  is  the  first  volume  in  the  literature  of  Chris- 
tian Inspiration  in  charity.  Here  we  find  motive,  pattern 
and  value  in  service  of  others.  Here  we  find  the  spiritual 
philosophy  that  places  Charity  in  spiritual  life  as  an  organic 
part  of  it.  Here  we  find  law  and  motive  that  check  the 
impulses  of  selfishness  and  invite  us  to  unity  and  harmony  in 
Christ.  The  flaming  torch  lighted  by  Christ  and  given  for 
safekeeping  into  the  hands  of  His  Church,  shines  over  the 
terraced  centuries  and  lights  the  way  as  we  pick  our  tedious 
steps  among  the  lowly  and  endeavor  to  help  and  cheer  them. 
Love  of  justice,  sympathy,  devotion  to  common  welfare  are 
ancillary  virtues  that  are  made  resplendent  and  appealing  in 
the  light  caught  from  the  love  of  God. 

Our  literature  of  Inspiration  is  abundant.     All  of  our 


THE  LITERATURE  OF  RELIEF  159 

scholarly  interpretations  of  the  Life  and  Teaching  of  Christ, 
the  Fathers,  Theologians,  and  writers  on  the  spiritual  life; 
pronouncements  of  Popes  and  Bishops  throughout  the  world ; 
biblical  commentaries,  treatises  on  duty  and  holiness,  and 
formal  literature  on  Charity  itself  set  forth  with  compelling 
simplicity  and  uniform  insistence,  the  essential  spiritual 
character  of  Christian  Charity,  its  value  and  compensation 
in  the  sight  of  God.  Saints  who  were  outstanding  in  service 
of  the  poor  renew  and  reinterpret  in  deeds  and  sentiment  this 
spiritual  law.  Religious  communities  devoted  to  every  form 
of  service  of  the  poor  restate  these  great  truths  and  translate 
them  into  visible  forms  of  service  within  the  circle  of  spirit- 
ual life.  Current  preaching  and  teaching  may  be  included 
in  this  literature  of  Inspiration  as  the  instinct  of  the  Church 
leads  her  always  to  set  forth  the  divine  nature  of  Charity; 
with  more  insistence  perhaps  as  the  world  drifts  away  from 
the  vision  and  command  of  Christ  and  attempts  to  construct 
ideals  independently  of  Him  as  their  law. 

Our  Catholic  literature  of  Inspiration  keeps  in  mind  con- 
stantly those  who  serve  as  well  as  those  who  receive  in 
Charity.  The  strong  are  made  tender  and  thoughtful.  Their 
selfish  impulses  are  toned  down.  Their  pursuits  are  tem- 
pered to  the  higher  law  of  love  and  their  compensation  is  set 
forth  as  primarily  of  spiritual  nature  in  the  strengthening 
of  Christian  character  and  purifying  of  spiritual  vision. 

A  great  body  of  inspirational  literature  has  been  developed 
in  modern  philanthropy.  It  sets  forth  social  and  civic  ideals 
as  purely  natural  forces  and  aims  to  find  in  the  service  of 
orderly  progress  of  civilization,  sufficient  incentive  and  re- 
ward to  support  the  entire  effort  of  society  to  aid  the  weaker 
classes. 

There  are  actual  and  historical  aspects  of  all  four  kinds  of 
literature.  Investigation  may  be  directed  toward  any  his- 
torical or  actual  period.  Interpretation  may  follow  it.  We 
may  find  historical  discussion  of  methods  followed  in  the  past, 
as  well  as  discussion  and  proposal  of  methods  in  use  now  or 


160          SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHAKITY 

advisable  in  the  future.     The  literature  of  Inspiration  may 
relate  to  past  or  present. 

Catholic  Charities  are  rich  in  literature  of  Inspiration. 
They  are  fairly  well  supplied  with  literature  of  Direction, 
yet  not  in  any  way  proportionately  to  the  magnitude  of  their 
activities  or  the  rich  experience  to  be  found  in  them.  We 
have  relatively  little  literature  of  Investigation  and  Inter- 
pretation. Since  the  modern  world  places  supreme  emphasis 
on  the  last  three  and  less  on  the  first  named,  we  find  ourselves 
lacking  often  in  enthusiasm  for  the  three  and  contenting  our- 
selves with  insistence  on  the  field  in  which  we  are  best 
equipped,  namely  that  of  Inspiration ;  discussion  and  defense 
of  motive,  spiritual  values  and  tone.  The  development  of 
the  past  ten  years  which  falls  in  with  the  history  of  the 
National  Conference  of  Catholic  Charities  and  the  splendid 
work  of  the  Catholic  Charities  Review  show  gratifying 
growth  of  the  literature  of  Direction  and  less  extensive 
attention  to  literature  of  Investigation  and  Interpretation. 


GHAPTEE  XIV 

SPIEIT  AND  ORGANIZATION  IN  CATHOLIC  CHARITIES 

THE  charities  of  the  Catholic  Church  are  a  complex 
expression  of  her  complex  life.  They  represent  fundamental 
doctrinal  attitudes.  But  their  historical  evolution  has  been 
modified  by  circumstances,  the  varied  relations  of  life  and  the 
policies  and  limitations  of  her  representatives.  It  is  difficult 
to  distinguish  between  what  is  transitory  and  what  is  perma- 
nent, between  essentials  and  accidentals  in  the  vast  activities 
that  result  from  the  Church's  understanding  of  the  law  of 
Christ  in  respect  of  the  poor. 

The  spiritual  note  prevails  throughout.  The  soul  is  very 
real  as  God  is  very  real  to  the  heart  and  mind  of  the  Church. 
The  example  of  Our  Divine  Lord  is  kept  in  mind  constantly. 
His  commands  are  obeyed  literally.  The  poor  are  served 
because  of  Christ  and  that  service  is  in  both  motive  and  form 
a  spiritual  activity.  One  who  fails  to  see  this  or  seeing  it 
fails  to  understand  cannot  do  justice  to  Catholic  charities 
from  any  standpoint  whatsoever.  Those  in  particular  who 
accuse  us  of  being  spiritually  selfish,  of  looking  upon  the 
poor  as  instruments  of  our  own  sanctification  or  of  feeling 
concern  for  their  souls  and  not  for  their  comfort,  misunder- 
stand the  fundamental  position  of  the  Church  and  the  histori- 
cal development  of  our  charities.  Human  limitations  lead 
undoubtedly  to  mistakes.  There  are  many  who  associate 
very  bad  judgment  with  very  good  motives.  If  the  world  at 
large  were  not  inclined  to  abandon  belief  in  spiritual  reali- 
ties, the  Church  might  not  be  called  upon  to  assert  them  as 
forcefully  as  she  does.  In  a  time  in  which  altogether  minor 
importance  is  attached  to  things  of  the  soul,  it  may  be  well 
to  assert  in  season  and  out  of  season  that  charity  in  attitude 
and  action  is  a  concern  of  the  soul  no  less  than  of  the  body. 

161 


162          SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHAKITY 

A  two-fold  view  of  charity  prevails.  Our  traditions  keep 
in  mind  constantly  the  spiritual  welfare  of  him  who  gives 
as  well  as  the  temporal  welfare  of  him  who  receives.  As 
much  care  has  been  given  to  the  study  of  the  obligations  of 
charity  as  has  been  given  to  the  study  of  the  rights  of  the 
poor.  There  are  two  principles  that  underlie  the  Catholic 
philosophy  of  charity  which  should  be  taken  into  account  in 
any  attempt  at  appreciation.  The  service  of  the  poor  is  an 
organic  part  of  the  Christian  life.  Prayer,  fasting  and  alms- 
giving are  associated  in  all  of  our  traditions  as  related  phases 
of  spiritual  activity.  Stated  in  their  general  terms  they  indi- 
cate worship,  self-discipline  and  service.  Religious  communi- 
ties sprang  up  because  strength  sought  its  sanctification  in  the 
service  of  weakness.  Men  and  women  who  felt  called  to 
renunciation  and  consecration  associated  themselves  under 
religious  leadership.  They  undertook  as  resources  permitted 
and  social  distress  suggested,  systematic  service  of  the  help- 
less of  every  type.  They  sought  sanctification  by  way  of 
service.  Many  study  their  mistakes.  Few  are  impressed 
by  the  splendor  of  the  ideal  that  led  them.  Faulty  methods 
are  neither  intended  nor  excused  by  these  fundamental  prin- 
ciples. The  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan  was  used  by  Our 
Divine  Lord  in  answering  the  lawyer  who  asked,  "What  must 
I  do  to  possess  eternal  life?"  When  the  lawyer  was  told  to 
"go  and  do  likewise"  we  learned  from  Christ  Himself  that 
"showing  mercy"  leads  to  eternal  life,  to  personal  sanctifica- 
tion. One  cannot  go  far  astray  therefore  in  finding  spiritual 
elements  essential  in  Christian  social  service. 

The  intense  individualism  of  institutional  and  geograph- 
ical units  of  the  Church's  life  has  exerted  a  marked  influence 
on  the  development  of  her  charities.  It  has  led  to  a  variety 
and  resourcefulness  that  have  been  admirable.  But  it  has 
resulted  in  a  mutual  independence  and  lack  of  coordination 
that  have  undoubtedly  interfered  with  progress  in  certain 
ways,  ways  that  are  particularly  dear  to  the  modern  mind. 
Parish,  diocese,  religious  communities,  city  and  lay  organiza- 


SPIKIT  AND  ORGANIZATION  163 

tions  are  units  of  consciousness  and  centers  of  responsibility 
in  Catholic  life.  Parish  consciousness  is  not  as  strong  in  the 
United  States  as  elsewhere.  Nevertheless  there  is  a  tone  of 
individuality  about  the  average  parish  which  isolates  its 
relief  activities  from  close  contact  with  other  parishes. 
The  diocese  is  a  high  center  of  authority  and  of  individualiza- 
tion  in  the  life  of  the  Church.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop 
is  extensive.  He  is  responsible  for  the  control  and  develop- 
ment of  works  of  charity.  No  one  may  undertake  them  in 
the  name  of  the  Church  without  his  approval.  Diocesan 
isolation  is  much  more  marked  than  parish  isolation.  The 
social  service  activities  in  any  diocese  will  be  independent  of 
all  others  or  coordinated  with  them  only  in  proportion  as 
larger  purposes  tend  to  overcome  the  habit  of  isolation  and 
problems  are  looked  upon  as  a  searching  challenge  to  the 
Church  as  a  whole  rather  than  to  any  diocese.  Of  course, 
social  relations  that  cross  parish  and  diocesan  lines  insure 
interchange  of  information  and  promote  much  helpful 
mutual  influence.  But  these  at  no  time  attain  to  any  propor- 
tions which  overcome  the  intense  individuality  of  the  units 
of  our  life. 

Lay  organizations  of  both  men  and  women  follow  these 
geographical  divisions.  The  parish  organizations  in  a  city 
vary  in  their  degree  of  isolation.  Perhaps  it  becomes  out- 
standing at  no  point.  Geographical  boundary  lines  of  par- 
ishes are  broken  frequently  on  account  of  the  mobility  of  our 
population.  The  original  provisions  of  Canon  Law  have  been 
eased  to  some  extent  to  meet  these  conditions.  Ordinarily 
a  parish  relief  society  will  deal  with  problems  that  occur 
within  the  parish  lines.  The  unity  of  all  life  make  necessary 
some  kind  of  coordination  since  the  larger  problems  of  social 
misery  are  problems  of  the  community  rather  than  of  any 
section.  Hence  we  find  lay  organizations  and  for  that  mat- 
ter religious  communities  which  work  more  or  less  freely 
throughout  a  city.  Every  degree  of  independence  of  parish 
organizations  and  of  cooperation  with  these  will  be  met. 
A  hospital  dispensary  will  serve  the  poor  from  all  parts  of 


164          SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

the  city.  Both  parish  and  city  organizations  will  take  advan- 
tage of  it  in  dealing  with  the  poor  who  are  in  need  of  medical 
attention.  The  Society  of  Saint  Vincent  de  Paul  meets  this 
situation  admirably  by  organizing  conferences  for  parish 
work,  and  a  Particular  Council  composed  of  representatives 
of  parish  conferences  which  deals  with  city  problems. 

Fraternal  and  religious  organizations  of  many  kinds 
engage  in  social  work  within  certain  limits.  Since  their 
membership  is  scattered  widely,  they  follow  none  of  the  geo- 
graphical divisions  of  the  Church's  life.  They  work  in  the 
larger  field.  Lay  organizations  of  many  kinds  act  as  auxili- 
aries of  institutions  conducted  by  religious  communities. 
They  work  in  close  cooperation  with  the  communities, 
increasing  thereby  the  capacity  of  the  latter  to  adapt  them- 
selves to  the  exigencies  of  general  relief  work. 

Religious  communities  which  engage  in  social  service  dis- 
play the  most  intense  form  of  individuality.  They  are  in  all 
cases  compact  organizations  governed  by  their  superiors  and 
following  traditional  spiritual  and  social  ideals.  Communi- 
ties are  isolated  almost  entirely  from  one  another.  They  are 
isolated  from  lay  organizations  and  their  work  is  conducted 
under  the  large  freedom  that  they  enjoy  in  the  Church,  sub- 
ject to  the  general  regulations  of  its  law.  Two  religious 
communities  may  be  engaged  in  the  same  kind  of  work  in  one 
city  and  be  practically  unknown  to  each  other.  This  con- 
dition promotes  individuality  and  variety.  But  it  results  in  a 
lack  of  coordination,  a  certain  provincialism  and  it  retards 
the  inspiration  that  should  come  from  whole  views  of  our 
social  problems. 

There  is  no  mechanism  by  which  these  institutional  and 
geographical  units  of  the  Church's  life  are  brought  together. 
Religious  communities  engaged  in  educational  work  have 
developed  common  standards  and  coordinated  their  activi- 
ties through  the  splendid  work  of  the  Catholic  Educational 
Association.  Hopeful  beginnings  of  similar  coordination 
are  found  in  the  more  recently  established  Catholic  Hospital 
Association.  But  these  activities  are  voluntary.  They  have 


SPIKIT  AND  ORGANIZATION  165 

resulted  from  the  initiative  of  leaders  and  the  hearty  good 
will  of  communities.  The  National  Conference  of  Catholic 
Charities  has  accomplished  much  in  developing  the  spirit 
of  coordination  since  its  foundation  in  1910.  But  its  work 
has  been  confined  in  the  main  to  lay  activities.  Sisterhoods 
had  not  found  it  convenient  to  take  advantage  of  its  oppor- 
tunities. The  first  step  in  this  direction  was  taken  in  1920 
when  a  conference  of  Sisterhoods  engaged  in  child  welfare 
work  was  established  at  the  Catholic  University  in  Washing- 
ton in  conjunction  with  the  Sixth  Biennial  Session  of  the 
National  Conference. 

It  seems  remarkable  that  these  units  of  Catholic  life, 
united  as  they  are  in  faith  and  in  ready  obedience  to  spiritual 
authority,  would  have  been  so  slow  in  developing  a  degree  of 
intimacy  and  associated  action  to  which  so  much  importance 
is  attached  in  modern  days.  The  condition  has  resulted  from 
a  respect  for  private  initiative  and  individuality  which  is 
rarely  noticed  by  those  not  of  our  faith.  Nevertheless  it 
remains  worthy  of  note  that  with  such  appreciation  of  unity 
in  faith  we  have  aspired  so  little  after  unity  in  service  which 
would  have  added  immensely  to  the  power  of  our  social  works. 
Three  pastors  in  an  eastern  city  whose  parishes  were  in  an 
industrial  district  made  plans  to  construct  and  maintain  a 
single  community  house.  When  they  approached  the  bishop 
to  ask  his  approval  he  was  so  surprised  by  their  action  that 
he  gave  his  blessing  immediately  without  awaiting  any  knowl- 
edge of  details. 

The  present-day  trend  toward  larger  association,  mutual 
discussion  of  methods  and  results,  understanding  among 
agencies  that  deal  with  like  conditions  could  not  have  attained 
its  present  proportions  without  affecting  the  life  and  spirit 
of  the  Church.  The  recent  war  emphasized  as  never  before 
the  demand  for  such  larger  association.  The  helpful  expe- 
rience of  the  National  Catholic  War  Council  revealed,  if 
revelation  were  necessary,  how  much  we  have  to  gain  in 
efficiency  by  facing  our  problems  in  a  spirit  of  cordial  asso- 
ciation. The  creation  of  the  National  Catholic  Welfare 


166          SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

Council,  successor  to  the  War  Council,  marks  the  beginning 
of  a  new  era  in  the  Church's  life  in  the  United  States.  It 
means  the  correction  of  a  certain  degree  of  provincialism, 
and  helpful  coordination  of  all  of  the  geographical  and  insti- 
tutional units  of  the  Church's  life.  That  this  process  holds 
forth  promise  of  great  stimulation  and  increased  efficiency 
in  our  charities  is  beyond  question. 

Isolation  among  the  units  of  the  Church's  life  was  perpetu- 
ated in  the  degree  that  we  have  known  because  of  almost 
entire  lack  of  literature  through  which  they  might  have 
found  a  common  soul  and  identical  standards.  Thought 
leaps  all  barriers.  The  empire  of  literature  knows  no  limits. 
If  we  had  developed  a  vigorous  literature  of  Catholic  chari- 
ties it  would  have  brought  the  larger  views  and  constant 
stimulation  that  wholesome  literature  always  impans. 
Neither  our  religious  communities  nor  our  lay  agencies  pro- 
duced a  literature  of  an  extent  and  quality  that  commanded 
attention.  There  were  many  helpless  to  be  served  and  there 
were  proportionately  few  laborers.  Our  agencies  devoted 
themselves  to  service  and  left  the  task  of  thinking  and  propa- 
ganda to  others.  There  were  almost  no  others.  The  Society 
of  Saint  Vincent  de  Paul  published  a  Quarterly  for  twenty- 
two  years.  It  was  the  only  continuing  publication  that  our 
charities  knew.  It  was  merged  into  the  Catholic  Charities 
Review,  a  monthly  publication,  in  1917. 

Keeping  in  mind  then  this  individuality  of  units  of  the 
Church's  life  and  the  lack  of  literature  or  appeal  that  might 
have  drawn  them  into  close  association,  we  gain  insight  into 
certain  features  of  our  history.  Communities  and  agencies 
which  were  progressive  and  admirable  lacked  occasion  and 
machinery  to  place  the  results  of  their  thought  and  efforts 
before  the  Catholic  public.  On  the  other  hand,  agencies 
which  were  backward  and  even  mistaken  found  it  possible  to 
remain  at  ease  in  their  isolation,  untouched  by  streams  of 
thought  and  unassisted  by  lessons  of  experience  of  which  they 
had  grave  need.  Comparison  is,  as  Crawford  says,  the  micro- 
scope of  the  senses.  Isolation  makes  comparison  impossible. 


SPIRIT  AND  ORGANIZATION  167 

It  endangers  progress  and  makes  work  inferior.  Literature, 
conferences,  discussion,  comparison  are  essential  to  progress 
so  long  as  human  nature  works  under  its  limited  capacity. 
Investigators  have  been  surprised  at  times  to  find  striking 
instances  of  foresight  and  efficiency  among  our  agencies 
which  were  almost  unknown.  They  and  their  wisdom 
remained  buried  and  the  forward  movement  of  our  charities 
was  blocked  because  there  was  no  method  of  passing  on  the 
inspirations  and  lessons  of  experience.  The  slowness  with 
which  the  Reports  of  the  sessions  of  the  National  Conference 
of  Catholic  Charities  and  the  Catholic  Charities  Review  have 
circulated  among  our  charities  indicates  that  we  have  not 
yet  attained  to  full  appreciation  of  the  function  of  literature. 

The  country  is  filled  with  conferences  of  every  kind  of 
social  agencies.  Cities,  states  and  the  nation  bring  together 
at  regular  intervals  organizations  engaged  in  every  known 
type  of  social  work.  Their  variety  is  amazing.  Until  recent 
years  our  religious  communities  remained  out  of  touch  with 
these  and  our  lay  agencies  took  but  a  minor  part  when  they 
cooperated  at  all.  Individual  Catholics  (both  clerical  and 
lay)  have  been  more  or  less  active,  but  never  in  numbers  or  in 
a  manner  proportioned  to  the  extent  of  our  works.  Catholic 
participation  in  these  conferences  has  increased  in  recent 
years,  to  marked  mutual  advantage.  But  there  is  a  charac- 
teristic shyness  which  remains  an  outstanding  trait  of  Cath- 
olic social  workers  and  it  interferes  to  no  little  extent  with 
their  impulses  of  cooperation.  Even  when  Catholic  repre- 
sentatives are  in  attendance  by  invitation  and  appointment 
at  conferences  of  the  kind  indicated  many  of  them  are  dis- 
posed to  confine  themselves  to  physical  presence  and  to  take 
but  an  indifferent  share  in  deliberations. 

Modern  charities  have  developed  the  conference  idea 
rapidly.  We  have  developed  it  slowly.  They  have  had  the 
advantage  of  wide  discussion,  freest  exchange  of  view  and 
comparison  of  methods,  fearless  judgment  of  results  and 
advocacy  of  experiment.  We  have  loitered  behind  in  all  of 
these  respects.  We  are  moving  but  we  move  slowly.  It  is 


168          SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHAKITY 

trne  that  we  have  escaped  many  mistakes  and  much  waste 
of  energy.  But  it  is  equally  true  that  we  have  lost  many 
advantages  that  would  have  improved  our  power  to  serve 
the  poor. 

Another  outstanding  contrast  is  found  in  the  development 
of  the  expert.  Modern  charities  have  produced  experts  in 
every  field  of  social  service  and  have  used  them  to  good  ad- 
vantage. We  have  much  to  do  still  in  the  training  and 
use  of  them. 

It  may  be  that  we  have  not  thought  that  experts  are  neces- 
sary in  the  field  of  social  service.  We  may  have  assumed 
that  men  and  women  might  undertake  leadership  in  dealing 
with  the  delicate  and  complicated  problems  of  poverty  and 
relief  without  having  any  preparation  other  than  sympathy 
and  general  intelligence.  Possibly  we  have  produced  the 
experts  needed  but  they  remain  hidden,  preferring  quiet 
ways  of  obscurity  rather  than  the  trials  of  leadership  and 
publicity.  We  have  not  undertaken  in  the  past  to  give  atten- 
tion to  the  problem  of  social  service  in  our  colleges  and  uni- 
versities. In  as  far  then  as  academic  training  is  required  to 
produce  experts,  we  have  not  until  very  recent  years  under- 
taken the  training  that  leads  to  skill.  Problems  in  feeble- 
mindedness, in  medical  standards  of  child  care,  in  the  com- 
piling of  children's  codes,  in  dealing  with  legal,  social  and 
moral  aspects  of  illegitimacy,  in  advisory  preparation  of 
many  forms  of  legislation,  really  demand  wide  experience, 
ripe  judgment  and  extended  and  complicated  information. 
It  can  be  hardly  said  that  our  system  has  furnished  us  with 
a  sufficient  number  of  qualified  experts  who  might  adequately 
represent  Catholic  thought  and  effort  as  both  touch  these  and 
similar  fundamental  problems  of  charity. 

It  is  probable  that  the  progress  of  our  charities  is  in  last 
analysis  a  question  of  qualified  leadership  and  technical  skill. 
Soldiers  who  fight  in  the  trenches  are  not  asked  to  do  the 
work  of  tactics  and  strategy.  This  is  the  function  of  the 
general  staff.  The  Sisterhoods  and  lay  organizations  that 
work  among  the  poor  cannot  be  asked  to  do  the  research  work, 


169 

the  thinking,  to  conceive  the  plans  and  produce  the  literature 
that  should  inspire  and  guide  our  charities.  Investigators 
who  are  familiar  with  the  work  of  our  institutions  and  have 
studied  them  with  adequate  care  state  that  they  find  in  them 
the  greatest  open-mindedness  and  even  eagerness  for  improve- 
ment and  direction.  These  can  be  furnished  only  through 
the  experience,  training  and  judgment  that  give  to  leaders 
their  power.  The  extent  to  which  the  Catholic  mind  recog- 
nizes this  truth  is  shown  in  the  increased  demand  for  schools 
of  training  for  social  work  and  the  eager  search  for  trained 
and  qualified  leaders  whose  number  is  far  from  sufficient  to 
meet  the  present  demand  for  them. 

In  the  past,  qualified  experts  in  social  work  who  are  Cath- 
olic have  drifted  into  the  general  field.  Our  own  charities 
have  not  absorbed  them,  partly  because  of  indifference  but 
largely  because  reasonable  salaries  could  not  be  paid.  We 
had  until  recent  years  lacked  the  impulse  to  seek  and  the 
means  to  pay  them.  As  an  indication  of  the  general  trend 
of  Catholic  feeling  as  a  whole  we  need  but  note  the  drift  of 
large  contributions  to  charity.  Among  the  gifts  of  endow- 
ment to  Catholic  colleges  and  universities  no  instance  occurs 
to  mind  at  this  moment  showing  a  single  endowment  looking 
toward  the  training  of  experts  in  social  work.  Gifts  of  every 
kind  to  home,  asylum  and  institution  have  been  made  with 
creditable  frequency.  No  endowment  of  a  school  for  the 
training  of  experts  appears  to  have  been  thought  of  at  all. 
The  two  schools  of  social  service  now  contemplated  by  the 
National  Catholic  Welfare  Council  represent  the  first  ap- 
proach to  this  problem  from  a  national  standpoint  Fordham 
and  Loyola  schools  are  due  to  the  insight  and  courage  of 
individual  initiative. 

Now  much  of  the  false  philosophy  that  undermines  the 
spiritual  concept  of  charity  comes  from  college  and  univer- 
sity men.  Most  of  the  leaders  who  are  becoming  factors  of 
the  first  importance  in  the  development  of  public  and  private 
modern  charities  are  graduates  of  either  schools  of  philan- 
thropy or  of  universities.  Splendid  powers  of  research, 


170 

literary  finish,  admirable  gifts  of  exposition  are  found  among 
them  to  a  marked  degree.  The  work  that  they  accomplish  in 
research,  interpretation,  organization  and  practical  direction 
is  colossal.  The  prestige  that  such  leaders  and  their  works 
have  brought  to  the  modern  movement  in  philanthropy  is 
very  great  We  have  not  realized  that  we  should  match  train- 
ing with  training,  skill  with  skill,  experience  with  experience 
in  developing  the  leadership  to  whose  care  we  would  commit 
the  precious  interests  of  the  charities  inspired  by  the  love  of 
Jesus  Christ.  This  is  fundamental. 

We  have  not  produced  by  the  process  of  academic  training 
an  array  of  experts  that  might  represent  the  variety  and 
extent  of  our  work.  Nevertheless  we  have  had  and  have  a 
limited  number  of  highly  qualified  leaders  and  organizers 
whose  accomplishments  reflect  credit  upon  them  and  serve 
our  charities  with  admirable  effect.  But  we  do  not  treat 
them  kindly  since  we  overwork  them.  It  is  not  unusual  to 
find  a  priest  of  great  attainments  in  the  field  of  relief  who 
is  at  the  same  time  a  pastor  of  a  busy  city  parish  and  engaged 
in  many  other  works.  All  of  these  when  taken  together  tax 
him  to  the  utmost  and  prevent  him  from  putting  all  of  his 
power  into  anything  that  he  does.  Comment  to  this  effect 
was  made  recently  by  a  modern  leader  who  looks  with  good 
nature  and  understanding  upon  Catholic  charities.  Thus  it 
occurs,  often  perhaps,  that  when  we  send  representatives  to 
conferences  conducted  by  public  and  social  agencies  we  send 
either  those  who  are  not  expert  or  are  not  expert  in  the  field 
concerned  or  are  too  busy  to  prepare  to  take  active  and  worthy 
part  in  deliberations.  In  fact,  ten  years'  experience  in  the 
National  Conference  of  Catholic  Charities  shows  that  a  sur- 
prisingly large  number  of  our  leading  workers  are  either 
unwilling  to  prepare  papers  of  any  kind  or  too  busy  to  under- 
take original  study  of  problems  concerning  which  they  are 
expert.  It  was  found  impossible  to  get  for  the  biennial  pro- 
grams of  the  National  Conference  of  Catholic  Charities,  the 
number  of  papers  on  field  investigation  that  the  executive 
committee  desired  and  asked  for  each  session. 


SPIKIT  AND  ORGANIZATION  171 

This  condition  is  striking  in  view  of  the  fact  that  our 
charities  have  been  put  on  the  defensive  everywhere  and  we 
have  not  developed  a  defensive  that  uses  the  implements  of 
modern  warfare.  Appeal  to  the  high  motive  that  actuates  our 
workers  is  not  more  adequate  in  the  face  of  modern  research, 
interpretation  and  current  standards  of  service  than  would 
be  the  muzzle-loading  gun  of  our  fathers  against  modern 
artillery. 

Doctrinal  differences  that  concern  principles  immediately 
have  helped  to  isolate  our  activities.  There  are  policies 
widely  advocated  by  sociologists  and  social  workers  with 
which  we  can  have  no  part.  Nevertheless  this  condition 
makes  it  doubly  necessary  for  us  to  understand  the  whole 
movement  as  it  affects  policy  and  thought. 

We  must  confess  that  a  certain  sense  of  satisfaction  with 
our  charities  lulls  us  into  mistaken  security.  Cardinal 
Newman  says  "To  be  at  ease  is  to  be  unsafe."  If  we  are  quite 
content  with  the  results  of  our  work  for  orphans,  wayward 
children  who  come  before  the  juvenile  court,  the  aged  poor, 
dependent  families,  particularly  those  in  need  of  medical 
attention,  foundlings,  widows  with  little  children  and  the 
like,  we  shall  neither  seek  nor  make  progress.  If  we  are  not 
disturbed,  even  haunted  by  the  sense  of  unfinished  work  and 
defective  methods  that  all  effective  men  experience,  it  must 
be  because  either  our  standards  of  achievement  are  low  or  our 
understanding  of  the  philosophy  of  Catholic  charity  is  mis- 
taken. If  we  look  upon  poverty  as  an  isolated  plight  of  the 
individual  or  the  family  it  is  probable  that  we  shall  make  this 
mistake.  But  the  moment  that  we  look  from  effect  to  cause, 
from  individual  to  society,  from  the  single  orphan  to  ten 
thousand  orphans,  we  gain  insight  into  the  aspirations  that 
fill  the  ranks  of  social  workers  with  the  sense  of  the  heavy 
tasks  uncompleted. 

We  are  disposed  at  times  to  look  upon  our  charities  as 
purely  religious  activities.  This  view  is  found  in  varying 
degrees  in  both  our  religious  and  lay  circles.  Now  this  atti- 
tude makes  our  work  intensely  individual,  personal  and  to  a 


SANTA  bARBARA  CAMPUS 


172          SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

high  degree  sympathetic  and  thoughtful.  In  as  far  as  this 
religious  view  fails  to  take  into  account  the  fact  that  our 
charities  are  social  service  of  the  very  highest  order,  it  will 
lead  us  into  error  of  policy  and  emphasis  which  increases 
our  estrangement  from  the  modern  movement.  This  move- 
ment makes  charity  almost  exclusively  a  social  service  and  it 
pays  relatively  little  attention  to  spiritual  phases.  Reluc- 
tance to  give  information,  with  insistence  on  the  privacy  and 
seclusiveness  found  in  some  of  our  agencies  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  they  underrate  the  social  service  nature  of  their  works. 
Our  charities  serve  humanity.  They  serve  the  interests  of 
justice  and  of  the  State.  They  serve  the  community  because 
they  are  dealing  with  community  problems  and  they  bring 
community  resources  reenforced  by  spiritual  ideals  to  the 
task  at  hand.  In  proportion  as  we  grasp  the  sociological 
aspect  of  our  work,  we  develop  an  inclination  to  get  into 
closer  touch  with  the  wholesome  elements  in  the  modern 
movements  and  we  enrich  our  own  resources  by  contact  with 
them.  There  is  very  much  in  medical,  psychological,  socio- 
logical and  industrial  research  that  is  of  the  very  highest 
value  to  all  of  our  charities.  We  would  be  recreant  to  a 
great  ideal  and  an  immediate  duty  were  we  to  adopt  any 
policies  that  would  delay  our  sharing  in  these  results  and 
rob  us  of  their  support  in  our  work.  Corporate  humility  on 
the  part  of  all  of  our  agencies,  docile  minds  and  self-sacri- 
ficing industry  are  required  to  bring  about  these  results. 
To  assume  that  we  have  reached  final  wisdom  in  any  work 
would  indicate  that  we  have  still  to  learn  what  wisdom  is. 

The  aim  now  held  in  mind  is  to  promote  closer  and  sympa- 
thetic cooperation  among  Catholic  agencies  in  social  service, 
to  modify  the  intense  individualism  that  separates  them  and 
to  derive  inspiration  from  large  views  and  the  sense  of  col- 
lective power.  In  addition  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  every  type  of 
agency  working  in  the  name  of  Catholic  charity  will  become 
thoroughly  informed  on  literature,  methods  and  standards 
in  the  field  of  modern  philanthropy  and  cooperate  gladly  with 
all  efforts  to  master  community  problems ;  that  each  of  them 


1T3 

will  develop  its  own  dignified  literature  and  in  doing  that 
both  give  and  receive  strength  to  deal  more  effectively  with 
the  appalling  problems  of  poverty.  Certain  considerations 
may  be  urged  in  discouragement  of  these  aims. 

It  may  be  alleged  that  modern  literature  of  relief  contains 
much  that  is  fantastic,  mistaken  and  vain.  This  is  true  and 
probably  not  exaggerated.  But  the  charge  holds  equally 
against  every  type  of  profane  literature  in  the  world.  Wis- 
dom tells  us  to  be  patient  with  what  is  useless  because  we 
prize  what  is  helpful  and  true.  The  literature  of  every 
known  science  and  art  will  be  found  to  contain  proof  of 
wasted  effort  and  useless  material.  And  yet  there  is  much 
that  is  precious  in  every  one  of  these  and  that  portion  is  the 
storehouse  of  the  wisdom  and  experience  of  history. 

One  may  say  that  this  literature  contains  much  false 
philosophy  and  advocates  many  policies  and  aims  that  are 
in  conflict  with  our  standards  of  Christian  morality  and 
philosophy.  This  also  is  true,  and  much  to  the  point.  It 
shows,  however,  what  pressing  need  we  have  to  associate  all 
that  is  helpful  and  wholesome  in  modern  literature  with 
what  is  right  in  morality  and  true  in  philosophy.  The  mod- 
ern movement  has  done  much  good  but  it  has  mixed  it  with 
error.  Our  charities  have  failed  to  produce  a  literature  which 
would  give  us  all  of  the  advantages  of  modern  thought  free 
from  its  errors.  This  is  a  task  for  our  leaders  and  organizers. 
We  cannot  escape  it. 

It  may  be  claimed  that  charity  is  simply  charity,  not  social 
reform,  nor  philosophy,  nor  law-making,  nor  sociology.  This 
is  a  question  of  a  point  of  view.  Life  is  a  united  process  in 
spite  of  our  personal  views  and  attitudes.  They  read  life 
most  deeply  who  read  its  parts  in  relation  to  the  whole.  Now 
the  habit  of  seeing  poverty  as  an  isolated  fact  not  as  a  pro- 
cess introduces  an  arbitrary  distinction  that  is  not  found  in 
the  fate  of  the  poor.  It  is  really  difficult  to  understand  the 
mental  process  of  one  who  finds  it  Christlike  to  take  care  of 
a  single  orphan,  but  feels  no  touch  of  spiritual  grandeur  in 
promoting  legislation  and  industrial  reforms  that  will  save 


SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHAKITY 

fathers  to  their  children  by  the  thousand  and  prevent  the 
making  of  orphans.  The  scholarship  of  the  modern  world 
which  lacks  neither  intelligence  nor  worthy  purpose  nor 
effective  sympathy  for  the  poor  sees  a  profound  relation 
between  poverty  and  its  social  causes  and  yields  to  a  noble 
ideal  in  undertaking  to  work  on  those  causes.  It  is  not  at 
all  necessary  that  they  who  do  the  detail  work  of  relief  shall 
be  leaders  in  social  movements  or  organizers  or  thinkers.  It 
does  mean,  however,  that  the  vigorous  inspiration  of  Chris- 
tian charity  should  raise  up  types  of  men  and  women  capable 
of  doing  these  wider  tasks  and  of  doing  them  under  the 
inspiration  of  Christian  charity. 

There  is  a  practical  reason  for  this  suggestion  that  may 
have  a  certain  value.  Modern  social  workers  and  leaders  have 
joined  with  statesmen  and  thinkers  in  throwing  the  weight  of 
emphasis  upon  social  action  and  preventive  care.  We  may, 
if  we  wish,  confine  ourselves  to  the  simpler  tasks  of  relief. 
If  we  do  so  we  surrender  any  claim  to  high  moral  leadership 
in  the  movements  now  making  for  the  betterment  of  the 
world.  Moral  and  social  leadership  has  already  departed  to 
a  great  extent  from  religion.  It  is  not  a  service  to  Christian- 
ity to  promote  that  development.  If  we  are  interpreters  of 
Christ  to  the  world,  we  may  not  surrender  leadership  and 
shun  the  world. 

We  find  ourselves  at  times  misled  by  failure  to  distinguish 
between  principles  and  institutions  that  are  essential  and 
stable  in  Catholic  life  on  the  one  hand,  and  policies  and  meth- 
ods subject  to  change  as  conditions  demand  on  the  other. 
The  religious  community  is  an  essential  factor  in  Catholic 
thought  and  life.  The  orphan  asylum  is  not.  It  is  rich  in 
its  record  of  service,  venerable  in  its  history  and  necessary 
to-day  for  certain  types  of  children  at  least.  To  hold  that 
the  orphan  asylum  is  essential  to  Catholic  charities  and  to 
oppose  efforts  to  place  all  normal  children  in  normal  homes 
would,  if  done  in  the  name  of  Catholic  charity,  be  a  fatal 
mistake.  We  may  argue  for  or  against  the  institution  for 
children  as  we  please,  but  the  argument  must  stand  on  its 


SPIKIT  AND  ORGANIZATION  175 

own  strength  and  borrow  no  force  from  unchanging  princi- 
ples of  faith. 

We  are  disposed  as  are  all  human  beings  to  make  princi- 
ples out  of  our  temperament,  limitations  and  circumstances. 
This  danger  is  always  present.  If  we  lack  the  means  to  do 
something  there  is  danger  that  we  shall  assert  as  a  principle 
that  the  thing  should  not  be  done.  If  we  lack  experts  in  social 
service  we  may  maintain  that  experts  are  not  needed.  If  we 
lack  means  to  pay  an  office  force  we  may  argue  that  records 
are  not  necessary.  If  we  lack  means,  personnel  and  homes 
needed  to  provide  a  home  for  every  normal  child,  and  we 
adopt  the  institution  as  a  compromise  method  within  our 
means,  is  there  not  some  danger  that  we  shall  favor  the  insti- 
tution on  principle  instead  of  accepting  it  on  account  of  our 
limitations?  If  we  do  not  speak  readily  in  public  and  are 
self-conscious  and  shy,  is  there  not  danger  of  our  maintaining 
that  discussions  are  useless  ? 

Perhaps  limited  means  and  limited  personnel  have  exerted 
an  influence  in  the  development  of  our  charities  greater  than 
any  one  has  suspected.  It  is  significant  that  the  advocacy  of 
distinctive  modern  things,  such  as  system,  research,  elaborate 
records,  national  and  even  international  conferences,  careful 
training,  extensive  literature,  highly  expert  leaders  and 
organizers  are  associated  with  abundant  means.  The  practi- 
cal, not  doctrinal  points  at  which  our  charities  differ  most 
from  these,  are  points  where  our  resources  are  most  limited. 
If  we  could  to-day  finance  adequately  the  suppressed  aspira- 
tions that  underlie  the  consecrated  lives  of  our  workers  and 
furnish  all  of  the  means  required,  we  would  find  our  charities 
developing  quickly  along  the  practical  lines  that  modern 
philanthropy  has  followed.  The  thinking  of  a  nation  depends 
largely  on  the  leisure  class  that  has  time  to  think.  The  think- 
ing that  must  vitalize  and  carry  our  charities  forward  must 
be  done  by  experienced  men  and  women  who  have  leisure  for 
thought  and  interpretation.  If  money  is  not  in  itself  talent, 
assuredly  it  conditions  ability  and  development.  Thinking, 
when  one  must  not  keep  limitations  in  mind,  is  very  much 


17G 

unlike  thinking  that  is  harassed  constantly  by  the  sense  of 
limited  means.  It  is  not  easy  to  extricate  thinking  from  one's 
circumstances,  and  yet  this  must  be  done  if  we  are  to  know 
and  recognize  the  principles  by  which  we  live. 

It  is  never  well  to  overrate  one's  powers  or  underrate 
one's  critics  or  an  adversary.  There  is  an  inclination  found 
among  us  which  leads  to  oversight  of  our  own  failings,  and 
emphasis  on  our  virtues  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  under- 
rating of  the  moral  dignity,  social  worth,  motives  and 
scholarship  of  the  modern  sociological  treatment  of  poverty 
and  charity  on  the  other.  Instances  of  this  kind  are  found 
when  we  overlook  the  carelessness  of  many  of  our  volunteer 
workers  and  idealize  their  motives  and  the  quality  of  their 
work,  while  at  the  same  time  we  insinuate  that  paid  trained 
social  workers  are  selfish  and  that  their  primary  motive  is 
salary.  It  would  be  much  more  effective  and  probably  more 
in  keeping  with  the  Eighth  Commandment,  if  we  were  to 
believe  readily  everything  good  that  can  be  known  of  others 
and  admit  with  candor  our  own  limitations. 

Charity  and  humility  go  hand  in  hand  in  the  Christian 
life.  They  shut  our  eyes  to  our  virtues  and  open  them  to  our 
faults  while  closing  our  eyes  to  the  faults  of  our  neighbors 
and  opening  them  to  their  virtues.  To  hold  a  critic  or  adver- 
sary in  contempt  is  a  step  toward  defeat.  A  false  sense  of 
security  and  superiority  is  the  promise  of  failure.  If  we  are 
to  have  any  myths  in  the  world  of  charity,  they  should  be  at 
least  benevolent. 

We  are  told  that  in  warfare  officers  do  their  best  to  keep 
in  mind  the  strength  of  their  enemies  and  the  weakness  of 
their  own  lines.  The  enemy  is  as  strong  as  his  strongest 
position.  The  defense  is  as  weak  as  its  weakest  position. 
The  law  of  universal  change  operates  in  our  charities  as  it 
does  in  the  rest  of  the  world.  The  changes  that  are  now 
developing  lead  straight  toward  policies  and  methods  which 
have  been  the  outstanding  characteristics  of  modern  philan- 
thropy for  many  years.  Technical  training,  social  service  as 
a  profession,  salaries,  systematic  records,  publicity,  investi- 


SPIRIT  AND  ORGANIZATION  1Y7 

gations  of  results,  attention  to  causes  as  well  as  effects,  to 
social  and  individual  prevention  as  well  as  relief  are  inevi- 
table and  vindicated.  It  is  merely  a  question  of  time  and 
resources  when  we  shall  forget  that  we  ever  hesitated  con- 
cerning them. 


CHAPTEK  XV 

CESTAIN  PRESENT  NEEDS 

THE  needs  of  Catholic  charities  may  be  indicated  from 
various  standpoints.  Since  our  resources  and  equipment 
fall  far  short  of  supplying  the  needs  of  all  Catholic  poor,  our 
most  pressing  need  is  for  increase  in  resources  and  in  per- 
sonnel, both  lay  and  religious.  While  our  aspirations  should 
bend  in  this  direction  there  is  no  prospect  that  allows  us  to 
hope  for  its  fulfillment.  We  should,  however,  spare  no  energy 
and  shrink  from  no  sacrifice  entailed  in  increasing  our  chari- 
ties to  the  utmost. 

Progress  in  this  direction  would  be  favored  greatly  if  we 
were  to  inaugurate  a  series  of  surveys  of  our  problems.  It 
should  be  reasonably  easy  to  adopt  a  standardized  plan  of 
investigation  and  effect  an  approximately  accurate  census 
of  our  poor.  The  ordinary  procedure  of  taking  a  parish 
census  bears  directly  on  the  problein.  It  should  not  be  diffi- 
cult to  count  the  number  of  permanent  and  temporary 
dependents  within  parish  lines,  or  to  utilize  our  parochial 
school  system  in  discovering  the  larger  problems  of  child 
welfare.  City  departments,  well  disposed  policemen,  social 
agencies  of  every  type  that  work  within  parish  lines  could 
be  of  assistance  in  enabling  a  pastor  to  make  an  accurate 
census  of  his  poor  and  analysis  of  the  problems  that  they 
present.  There  is  no  doubt  that  in  many  city  parishes,  large 
numbers  of  the  poor  might  escape  discovery.  But  after 
making  allowances  for  this,  it  is  certain  that  surveys  of 
problems  in  poverty  made  along  parish  lines  in  a  national 
way  would  revolutionize  our  aims,  spirit  and  organization. 
When  we  consider  the  extent  of  the  country  the  project  seems 
colossal.  When  we  think  of  it  in  the  terms  of  a  single  parish 

178 


CERTAIN  PRESENT  NEEDS  179 

that  endeavors  to  know  its  poor  and  befriend  them  the  plan 
takes  on  an  appealing  simplicity. 

The  normally  developed  Catholic  parish  possesses  a  sense 
of  responsibility  toward  its  own  poor.  This  sense  expresses, 
itself  in  a  fitful  way  at  times  because  many  problems  of 
dependency  are  handled  from  general  not  parish  lines.  A 
sense  of  responsibility  toward  dependent  families  is  definite 
and  it  actuates  many  relief  activities.  The  average  parish 
does  not,  however,  feel  as  keen  a  sense  of  duty  toward  the 
aged  homeless  poor.  These  latter  are  usually  provided  for 
from  a  general  standpoint  through  religious  communities. 
The  exact  form  in  which  the  sense  of  parish  responsibility 
toward  the  poor  will  express  itself  is  determined  largely  by 
the  energy  and  social  vision  of  the  pastor  and  the  type  of 
leadership  in  social  action  that  the  parish  produces.  Now 
if  a  parish  undertakes  no  census  whatsoever  of  its  problems 
in  dependency,  it  may  gain  a  sense  of  satisfaction  by  meet- 
ing only  the  problems  which  obtrude  themselves  upon  atten- 
tion. When  this  is  the  case  the  poor  who  are  not 
known  are  either  overlooked  or  befriended  by  other  social 
agencies.  So  long,  therefore,  as  a  parish  does  not  know  all 
of  its  poor  and  every  type  of  problem  presented  by  them,  a 
flaw  will  remain  in  the  foundations  of  our  work.  Many  con- 
sequences result  from  this  condition. 

There  will  be  no  sense  of  unfinished  tasks,  no  restless  long- 
ing to  improve  equipment  and  multiply  resources.  The  work 
that  is  done  will  tend  to  narrow  instead  of  widening  social 
vision  regardless  of  the  perfection  with  which  it  is  done.  One 
of  the  most  important  elements  in  the  corporate  life  of  a 
parish  is  the  recognition  of  conditions  within  its  lines  that 
concern  the  city  as  a  whole  and  not  the  parish  in  particular. 
If  all  of  the  parishes  in  a  given  city  were  to  make  a  census 
on  an  identical  plan,  we  would  gain  a  new  sense  of  respon- 
sibility toward  the  poor.  The  parish  would  discover  the 
duties  that  it  could  do  best  alone.  It  would  discover  the 
problems  that  are  rooted  in  the  common  life  of  the  city  and 
develop  policies  from  the  standpoint  of  the  city  as  a  whole. 


180          SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

This  discovery  would  lead  toward  active  cooperation,  pooling 
of  resources  and  wisdom,  and  the  development  of  agencies  and 
activities  that  would  bring  to  expression  the  collective  Cath- 
olic sense  of  the  city  in  respect  of  the  claims  of  the  poor.  In 
the  absence  of  such  information  and  larger  views  parish 
efforts  must  remain  incomplete  and  uncoordinated.  Not 
even  the  large  number  of  relief  agencies  that  work  through- 
out the  average  city  regardless  of  parish  lines  are  capable 
of  upbuilding  this  sense  of  corporate  responsibility  toward 
the  poor.  These  agencies  themselves,  in  the  absence  of  any 
adequate  survey  of  the  problems,  touch  conditions  at  only  cer- 
tain points  and  fail  to  gain  insight  into  the  situation  as  a 
whole.  This  limitation  is  the  more  marked  in  proportion  as 
these  agencies  fail  to  develop  the  spirit  of  systematic  co- 
operation and  exchange  of  information. 

It  is  most  important  for  our  charities  that  they  discover 
their  utter  inadequacy  to  meet  all  of  the  problems  presented 
by  our  Catholic  poor.  Once  we  discover  that  agencies  other 
than  our  own  are  engaged  extensively  in  working  among  our 
poor,  it  will  appear  evident  that  some  kind  of  policy  of  co- 
operation with  all  such  agencies  is  imperative.  Assuredly 
the  spiritual  care  of  the  poor  may  never  be  delegated  to  other 
agencies.  But  when  these  undertake  the  social  service  of  the 
Catholic  poor  we  can  undertake  the  spiritual  care  of  them 
most  effectively  when  relations  are  on  the  basis  of  careful 
understanding  and  cooperation. 

The  survey  of  our  problems  as  described  would  serve  us 
well  too  in  forcing  upon  us  a  deeper  insight  into  the  social 
processes  that  lie  behind  poverty  and  into  the  imperative 
need  of  strengthening  every  one  of  our  agencies.  A  single 
illustration  may  make  this  clear.  It  should  be  possible  with 
little  effort  to  know  the  number  of  Catholic  children  of  school 
age  who  live  within  the  parish  lines.  It  should  not  be  diffi- 
cult to  learn  the  number  registered  at  the  parochial  school, 
the  number  in  attendance  at  the  public  schools  and  the  num- 
ber that  neglect  school  habitually.  It  should  not  be  difficult 
to  find  out  how  far  cases  of  truancy  are  reported  and  how 


CERTAIN  PRESENT  NEEDS  181 

far  they  are  neglected,  or  to  judge  the  efficiency  and  com- 
pleteness of  truancy  records  in  the  city  office,  flaws  in  equip- 
ment and  administration,  causes  of  truancy  and  the  kind  of 
remedy  that  is  needed.  Now  if  these  problems  are  handled 
with  every  degree  of  care  or  lack  of  it  in  thirty  or  forty  city 
parishes,  no  one  of  them  interested  in  the  problem  outside  of 
its  own  limits,  the  interests  of  school  children  will  not  be 
adequately  safeguarded.  If,  however,  it  were  possible  to 
have  thorough  knowledge  of  the  problem  as  it  appears  in  each 
parish,  we  would  gain  both  information  and  impulse  to  rec- 
ognize the  full  meaning  of  truancy  in  the  spiritual  and  intel- 
lectual life  of  children.  The  collective  force  of  the  city's 
Catholic  life  could  be  brought  to  bear  upon  the  problem  in  a 
way  that  would  insure  practical  mastery  of  it.  Short  of  an 
actual  census,  of  a  survey  of  the  whole  problem,  we  shall 
scarcely  gain  either  the  insight  or  the  determination  to  deal 
with  it  as  we  should.  The  interests  of  the  sick  poor,  care 
of  mothers  and  infants,  the  welfare  of  juvenile  delinquents 
furnish  equal  illustration  of  the  inadequacy  of  our  service 
when  efforts  are  confined  to  parochial  lines,  and  we  lack 
understanding  of  our  common  problems  and  the  need  of  deal- 
ing with  them  from  a  collective  standpoint. 

We  should  parallel  the  survey  of  problems  by  a  survey  of 
agencies.  It  is  necessary  to  take  stock  of  all  organizations  of 
whatsoever  kind  that  engage  in  social  service  under  the 
inspiration  of  faith  and  the  gladly  accepted  direction  of 
Church  authority.  Such  a  survey  should  list  those  agencies 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  parish,  the  city,  the  diocese  and 
the  nation.  Once  the  list  is  made,  all  such  agencies  should 
be  asked  to  give  information  concerning  their  work,  the  stand- 
ards that  they  follow,  the  difficulties  under  which  they  labor 
and  the  instruments  by  which  their  efficiency  might  be  pro- 
moted. The  lessons  of  their  experience  should  be  carefully 
gathered  particularly  with  a  view  to  efficiency  and  coopera- 
tion. There  is  no  difficulty  whatsoever  when  such  a  survey 
is  directed  by  diocesan  authority  as  was  the  case  in  New 
York  and  Pittsburgh  in  1920.  These  surveys  were  made  by 


182  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

experts  who  worked  out  careful  plans  and  submitted  findings 
and  recommendations  to  the  diocesan  authorities  for  such 
action  as  seemed  timely.  There  is  promise  that  many  similar 
surveys  will  be  made  in  the  near  future  and  that  in  this  way 
our  charities  will  enter  upon  a  new  era  of  greatly  increased 
efficiency  in  both  the  spiritual  and  social  service  of  the  poor. 

Surveys  of  this  kind  are  attended  with  much  difficulty. 
Care  must  be  taken  to  avoid  all  assumption  of  authority 
beyond  what  is  given,  and  of  impulse  toward  dictation 
because  the  independence  and  initiative  of  our  agencies  must 
be  safeguarded.  The  traditions  of  our  Catholic  life  show 
forth  two  traits  that  should  be  kept  in  mind.  One  is  the 
active  role  of  individual  initiative  in  the  development  of 
relief  agencies.  The  other  is  prompt  and  unquestioning 
acceptance  of  Church  authority  when  it  comes  to  expression. 
It  would  be  consonant  with  the  best  in  our  traditions  if  the 
the  demand  for  surveys  of  our  agencies  were  to  come  from 
these  themselves  without  awaiting  direction  from  authority 
which  is  usually  reluctant  to  interfere  with  liberty  of  action 
in  social  work. 

The  progress  of  our  charities  will  be  undoubtedly  pro- 
moted by  the  two  types  of  survey  described.  They  depend 
on  skilled  direction  and  exacting  scientific  methods.  We  are 
thus  led  to  consider  the  role  of  the  expert  in  our  development. 

The  progress  of  all  civilization  is  marked  by  increasing 
specialization  and  technical  training.  The  specialist  is 
inevitable.  If  experience  is  a  good  teacher,  increasing  use  of 
experience  promises  the  best  teachers.  Poverty  is  highly 
complex.  Every  social  problem  is  highly  complex.  A  large 
amount  of  information  is  required  to  undertake  the  direction 
of  any  kind  of  social  effort.  Leaders  and  organizers  must 
be  trained  in  charities  as  they  must  be  trained  in  every  line 
of  fundamental  human  endeavor.  We  trust  the  experienced 
surgeon,  the  experienced  priest,  the  experienced  teacher.  We 
must,  therefore,  trust  those  experienced  in  the  work  of 
charity.  Exceptional  men  and  women  may  learn  from  their 
own  experience  and  reach  high  levels.  But  they  would  be 


CERTAIN  PRESENT  NEEDS  183 

more  capable  if  they  were  well  trained.  We  should,  there- 
fore, encourage  the  development  of  experts  who  are  familiar 
with  problems,  standards  and  results.  They  should  have  had 
experience  in  social  research,  in  the  development  and  direc- 
tion of  organized  effort,  and  they  should  be  well  versed  in  the 
spirit  of  our  charities,  in  the  spirit  and  organization  of  the 
Church,  in  all  forms  of  legislation  that  affect  the  welfare  of 
the  poor.  They  should  be  capable  of  indicating  standards, 
placing  our  organizations  in  touch  with  all  phases  of  prog- 
ress in  thought  and  in  endeavor.  Their  role  is  general,  not 
local.  They  should  be  advisers  and  organizers  rather  than 
workers. 

Proper  attention  should  bring  to  the  surface  promptly  a 
number  of  experts  qualified  to  organize  surveys,  to  suggest 
the  adoption  of  advanced  standards  and  put  into  motion  meth- 
ods dictated  by  the  problems  which  our  charities  face.  But  in 
addition  there  should  be  widespread  recognition  of  the  need 
of  the  expert  and  of  his  role.  Willingness  to  call  him  in  as 
investigator  and  adviser  should  be  general.  No  local  pride 
or  feeling  of  satisfaction  with  local  achievement  should  hin- 
der generous  encouragement  and  widespread  use  of  men  and 
women  capable  of  this  higher  type  of  service  to  our  works. 
There  is  pressing  need  to-day  of  expert  direction  in  work 
for  children.  The  tendency  to  standardize  such  work  is  uni- 
versal. Law,  medicine,  psychology  are  concerned  with  prob- 
lems of  child  welfare  to  a  degree  that  is  little  short  of 
confusing.  Children's  codes  have  been  adopted  in  many 
states  and  they  are  under  consideration  in  many  more.  A 
vast  amount  of  technical  information  is  necessary  if  we  are 
to  make  our  worthy  contribution  to  thought  and  effort  that 
now  engage  the  nation's  mind  in  protecting  health,  morals, 
education  and  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  children  of  the 
nation. 

While  we  have  produced  many  types  of  experts  in  our  reli- 
gious charities,  the  lay  expert  or  the  priest  is  now  held  in 
mind  because  either  is  free  to  move  about  in  his  work  as  he 
may  be  called. 


184          SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

There  is  pressing  need  of  a  directory  of  the  Catholic 
charities  of  the  United  States.  Until  such  a  directory  can 
be  compiled  no  one  will  know  the  extent  and  variety  of  our 
works,  the  colossal  scale  upon  which  love  of  the  poor  for  the 
sake  of  Christ  has  expressed  itself  in  thoughtful  service.  The 
public  has  no  understanding  of  the  quantity  and  the  quality 
of  these  works.  We  ourselves  have  only  impressions  and 
partial  knowledge.  An  effort  was  made  by  the  National 
Conference  of  Catholic  Charities  some  years  ago  to  compile 
a  directory.  The  work  was  abandoned  after  two  years 
because  of  widespread  indifference  to  publicity,  even  oppo- 
sition to  it  on  the  part  of  many  relief  organizations.  Even 
to-day  there  are  many  whose  career  in  the  service  of  the 
poor  is  honorable  in  the  highest  degree,  who  feel  marked 
opposition  to  any  so-called  advertising  of  our  services  of 
the  poor. 

There  is  venerable  authority  for  judging  a  tree  by  its 
fruits.  If  the  charities  of  the  Catholic  Church  constitute 
one  of  her  fundamental  interests,  it  should  be  praiseworthy 
to  make  them  known  in  a  century  which  is  disposed  to  test 
all  religion  by  its  social  message  and  service.  If  there  is  a 
tendency  outside  of  the  Catholic  Church  to  transform  prin- 
ciples of  belief  into  maxims  of  service,  it  should  be  worth 
while  in  the  service  of  truth  to  show  how  unyielding  belief 
in  divine  truth  can  lead  to  most  far-reaching  and  effective 
service  of  the  poor.  The  apologetic  value  of  an  accurate 
directory  of  the  social  works  of  the  Church  is  beyond  ques- 
tion. But  there  are  practical  uses  which  are  worthy  of 
thought.  A  directory  of  Catholic  charities  is  of  value  in 
facilitating  communication,  exchange  of  information  and 
cooperation.  Demand  for  national  or  local  directories  is 
made  constantly  by  social  service  organizations  of  every 
type.  We  have  not  produced  one.  Nor  have  we  manifested  a 
general  desire  to  possess  one. 

Furthermore,  nothing  but  a  directory  of  the  kind 
described  would  reveal  to  us  the  shortcomings  in  our  own 


CERTAIN  PRESENT  NEEDS  185 

organization.  Progress  demands  such  knowledge.  The  effort 
made  some  years  ago  to  compile  a  directory  disclosed  the  fact 
that  we  had  in  the  entire  United  States  only  two  small  institu- 
tions for  the  specialized  care  of  feeble-minded  children. 
The  development  of  work  in  that  line  has  begun  already. 
A  number  of  Sisters  have  qualified  through  university  train- 
ing for  that  work.  A  new  hospital  clinic  has  been  estab- 
lished and  the  problem  has  received  attention  at  several 
meetings  of  the  National  Conference  of  Catholic  Charities. 
It  would  be  vain  to  pretend  that  lack  of  a  directory  had  had 
much  to  do  with  this  particular  development.  It  does, 
however,  illustrate  the  general  truth  that  the  first  step  in 
remedying  shortcomings  is  to  know  them.  A  directory  of 
our  Catholic  charities  would  reveal  not  only  what  we  are 
doing  but  also  what  we  are  not  doing. 

There  is  need  of  steps  toward  standardization  in  the  more 
important  lines  of  social  service.  An  illustration  is  at 
hand  in  the  splendid  results  already  accomplished  in  the 
standardizing  of  hospital  work  that  has  followed  upon  the 
creation  of  the  Catholic  Hospital  Association.  The  rapid 
development  of  Social  Service  Departments  of  hospitals 
suggests  the  need  of  a  standard  in  aims  and  equipment  of 
such  service  and  in  organizing  its  relations  to  general  and 
the  Catholic  relief  agencies  of  our  cities.  The  most  prom- 
ising development  in  our  medical  charities  lies  in  the  direc- 
tion of  more  efficient  Social  Service  Departments  in  our 
hospitals. 

There  is  pressing  need  of  standardizing  child  welfare 
work.  This  relates  to  the  method  of  taking  advantage  of 
the  best  results  in  every  kind  of  research  in  institutional 
care  and  home  finding.  The  initial  step  in  this  direction 
was  taken  happily  in  September,  1920,  when  representatives 
of  twenty-seven  Sisterhoods  engaged  in  Child  Welfare  work 
held  their  first  national  conference  in  conjunction  with  the 
National  Conference  of  Catholic  Charities. 

One  important  aspect  of  standardization  relates  to  meth- 
ods of  record  keeping.  So  long  as  institutions  and  agencies 


186          SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

follow  local  direction  alone  and  take  local  points  of  view 
only,  it  will  be  practically  impossible  to  make  satisfactory 
studies  of  their  work  because  of  lack  of  identical  units  in 
which  to  describe  and  judge  it.  The  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  found  its  task  in  dealing  with  the  railroads 
disheartening  until  it  compelled  them  to  adopt  uniform 
methods  of  bookkeeping.  In  much  the  same  way,  carefully 
determined  standards  touching  every  important  phase  of  the 
work  and  identical  record  forms  would  be  of  the  greatest 
possible  service. 

Much  is  to  be  gained  by  well  organized  methods  of  co- 
operation among  our  own  charities.  This  is  to  a  great  extent 
a  distinct  problem  in  each  city.  It  depends  largely  upon 
leaders,  problems,  the  number  and  spirit  of  organizations 
and  local  facilities.  There  is  not  a  single  consideration  that 
can  be  urged  against  heartiest  cooperation  except  that  it 
requires  effort,  good  will  and  self-discipline.  There  is  no 
hurt  to  prestige,  no  surrender  of  individuality.  There  is 
nothing  but  the  greatest  good  to  be  derived.  Sometimes 
when  the  sense  of  corporate  unity  is  exceedingly  strong  and 
a  narrow  view  is  taken  of  the  work  at  hand,  an  organization 
may  feel  reluctant  to  enter  into  any  general  plan  of  effective 
cooperation.  The  lessons  of  all  human  history  are  so 
strongly  in  favor  of  it  that  argument  seems  to  be  futile. 

All  of  the  purposes  indicated  in  the  foregoing  will  be  pro- 
moted in  the  happiest  way  by  the  extensive  development  of 
the  conference  idea  among  our  lay  and  religious  charities. 
City  conferences  in  the  large  cities ;  state  conferences  where 
the  number  of  cities  and  problems  is  great  enough  to  insure 
variety  of  ability  and  interest;  regional  conferences  that 
might  take  in  several  States,  could  not  fail  to  promote  Cath- 
olic charities  more  effectively  than  any  other  step  that  might 
be  taken. 

The  conference  is  a  most  helpful  and  inviting  institu- 
tion. It  assembles  representatives  of  many  points  of  view 
and  of  many  organizations.  It  facilitates  comparisons  of 
experience,  wholesome  self-criticism,  information  on  every 


CERTAIN  PRESENT  NEEDS  1ST 

aspect  of  problems.  It  furnishes  opportunity  for  their  dis- 
cussion and  draws  to  active  attention  of  leaders,  results  in 
every  line  of  research  and  experience  as  these  bear  directly 
or  indirectly  upon  them.  At  the  same  time  by  preventing 
formally,  all  votes  on  issues  discussed,  the  individuality  of 
organizations  is  maintained  and  it  is  practically  impossible 
for  the  most  selfish  participant  to  take  any  unfair  advantage. 
The  promotion  of  personal  acquaintanceship,  group  meet- 
ings between  sessions,  conversation,  exhibits  of  literature 
and  reports,  opportunity  to  ask  questions  and  to  answer 
questions,  the  developed  habit  of  care  in  making  broad  state- 
ments, are  outstanding  advantages  that  show  the  tremendous 
service  that  conferences  among  our  agencies  and  leaders  may 
render. 

The  preparation  of  papers  to  be  read  at  such  conferences 
is  an  education  in  itself.  It  forces  the  discipline  of  think- 
ing, habits  of  care  in  statements  and  either  makes  or 
improves  style  which  is  a  source  of  strength  in  every  walk 
of  life.  In  the  course  of  preparing  a  paper  one  is  forced 
to  read,  to  make  inquiries,  to  search  out  experience,  and  all 
of  this  is  of  the  greatest  value  in  personal  development. 
Our  charities  are  particularly  in  need  of  just  this  particu- 
lar kind  of  stimulation  because  of  the  widespread  tendency 
to  shrink  from  publicity,  to  yield  to  instincts  of  shyness 
that  lead  one  to  prefer  to  work  much  and  talk  not  at  all. 
It  would  be  impossible  to  overestimate  the  value  to  Catholic 
charities  of  the  United  States  of  the  meetings  of  the 
National  Conference  of  Catholic  Charities  since  1910. 
There  was  not  an  occasion  in  all  of  these  years  when  the 
Conference  failed  to  be  a  real  experience  in  faith  as  well 
as  conference  on  works.  The  presence  of  five  hundred  ta 
one  thousand  men  and  women  devoted  to  the  ideals  of  Cath- 
olic charity  and  guided  by  its  spirit,  never  failed  to  be  an  out- 
standing inspiration.  It  led  always  to  the  strongest  affirma- 
tion of  the  spiritual  character  of  charity  as  it  did  to  supreme 
pride  in  the  collective  view  of  its  operation.  At  the  same 
time  there  was  no  lack  of  courage  and  self-criticism,  no  unwil- 


188  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHARITY 

lingness  to  learn,  no  timidity  in  accepting  with  gratitude 
every  wholesome  result  in  modern  social  service.  City, 
state  and  even  regional  conferences  would  foster  their  re- 
spective charities  equally  and  at  the  same  time  minimize  the 
inconvenience  and  expense  of  travel  and  demands  on  the 
energy  of  those  who  are  otherwise  busy. 

One  should  not  overlook  the  service  that  conferences  ren- 
der to  our  charities  by  producing  literature.  The  prospect 
of  publication  of  reports  works  for  thoroughness,  accuracy 
and  dignity  of  treatment.  The  published  reports  make 
available  all  of  the  thought  and  discussion  if  not  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  meeting  itself.  In  addition  the  spirit  of  co- 
operation is  fostered  in  a  most  remarkable  way.  Delegates 
are  emancipated  from  narrow  views  and  particular  interests. 
They  are  aided  in  forming  larger  views  of  problems,  and 
enabled  to  see  the  processes  that  tie  problems  together  and 
make  necessary,  union  among  the  agencies  that  deal  with 
them. 

It  is  undoubtedly  preferable  to  develop  separate  confer- 
ences for  religious  communities  as  has  been  done  in  the  case 
of  Child  Welfare  work.  In  as  far  as  Sisters  find  it  con- 
venient and  agreeable  to  take  part  in  general  conferences 
they  are  cordially  welcomed.  If  their  preference  lies  in  the 
direction  of  exclusive  conferences  on  their  own  work,  such 
gatherings  cannot  fail  to  promote  progress  in  every  way. 
Without  a  doubt  the  experience  of  the  Catholic  Educational 
Association  and  the  Catholic  Hospital  Association  will 
point  the  way  in  the  development  of  conferences  of  charities. 

Our  charities  will  be  greatly  benefited  by  the  develop- 
ment of  formal  instruction  in  colleges,  universities  and  spe- 
cial schools.  Systematic  attention  should  be  given  in  the 
later  grades  and  in  the  high  schools  to  the  awakening  of 
social  sympathy  in  children  and  to  the  direction  of  practical 
service.  The  high  school  pupil  can  be  trained  farther  in 
the  same  direction.  The  college  course  should  develop  at 
least  the  cultural  background  of  social  work  through  such 
instruction  in  social  history  and  community  ideals  as  will 


CEKTAIN  PKESENT  NEEDS  189 

prepare  the  student  for  deeper  insight  later.  It  is  possible 
through  instruction  in  industrial  history,  civics  and  econom- 
ics to  open  to  the  minds  of  the  young  the  whole  field  of  social 
service.  In  this  way  our  educational  system  should  awaken 
understanding  of  the  problems  of  poverty  and  stimulate  per- 
sonal sympathy  in  social  service.  This  systematic  develop- 
ment should  reach  its  final  stage  in  the  school  devoted  exclu- 
sively to  training  for  social  service. 

This  movement  is  already  under  way.  In  many  cities 
there  are  large  classes  of  Sisters  from  many  communities 
who  are  taking  lectures  throughout  the  year  in  principles 
and  methods  in  social  service.  In  a  large  number  of  cities 
there  are  regularly  established  courses  giving  several  lec- 
tures a  week  throughout  the  year.  Supervised  field  work  is 
done  in  many  of  these  cities  in  connection  with  the  lectures. 
Schools  of  Sociology  have  been  organized  by  Fordham  Uni- 
versity in  New  York  and  Loyola  University  in  Chicago. 
Each  of  them  offers  a  two  years'  course  of  training  in  social 
work.  The  National  Catholic  War  Council  organized  a 
school  of  training  in  social  work  during  the  war.  It  is  now 
conducting  a  six  months'  intensive  course  of  training  with 
required  residence  and  a  standard  amount  of  supervised  field 
work.  The  National  Catholic  Welfare  Council  is  preparing 
to  reorganize  that  school  on  the  basis  of  a  two-year  course 
devoted  entirely  to  preparation  for  social  work.  A  similar 
school  for  men  will  be  opened  in  the  near  future. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

OLD  AND  NEW 

THERE  are  many  elderly  men  and  women  active  in  our 
lay  and  religious  charities  whose  years  of  kindly  service  to 
the  poor  outnumber  all  of  the  years  of  life  of  not  a  few 
younger  men  and  women  now  foremost  in  our  ranks.  These, 
our  elders,  brought  deep  devotion  and  the  wisdom  of  their 
earlier  days  to  the  task  of  assisting  the  poor.  Their  ways 
are  fixed.  They  are  adjusted  to  the  system  of  which  they 
are  parts.  Their  memories  are  associated  with  standards 
that  have  guided  them  through  many  years  and  they  recall 
with  unconscious  joy  the  blessings  showered  upon  them  by 
those  whom  they  served.  They  have  a  fixed  conception  of 
the  nature  of  poverty  and  of  the  needs  of  the  poor.  They 
have  neither  written  nor  thought  philosophy  other  than  that 
which  organizes  their  benevolence  into  their  spiritual  out- 
look of  life.  They  are  unconscious  of  reluctance  before  any 
duty  that  presents  itself  to  their  willing  glance  and  they 
have  been  grateful  when  sacrifice  of  preference  or  leisure 
was  demanded  by  it.  These  friends  of  the  poor  become  con- 
fused and  even  alarmed  when  they  see  the  young,  fresh  from 
college,  new  to  the  service  of  the  poor  and  not  yet  tested  by 
the  sobering  responsibilities  of  life,  assuming  roles  of  leader- 
ship, defining  standards  and  fixing  policies  in  our  charities. 
These  young  strangers  speak  with  fluency  and  assurance  and 
show  mastery  of  the  literature  and  methods  which  gives 
them  marked  advantage  in  discussion  or  conference.  They 
write  and  speak  about  the  poor  in  the  terms  of  rehabilita- 
tion, budget,  case  conferences,  first  interviews,  face  sheets, 
records,  social  diagnosis,  Binet-Simon  tests  of  mentality, 
morons  and  the  problem  child.  These  are  strange  words  to 

190 


OLD  AND  NEW  191 

the  ears  of  the  veterans.  It  is  a  foreign  tongne.  To  the 
elderly  worker  of  fixed  habits  and  conservative  temperament 
it  is  science,  calculation,  system  and  not  charity  or  intimate 
association  with  the  poor.  The  activity  indicated  by  these 
strange  words  seems  akin  to  an  effort  to  bring  the  divine  love 
into  the  laboratory  and  to  attempt  the  measurement  of  its 
vibrations  with  irreverent  freedom  and  skeptical  mind. 
Intellect  seems  to  replace  heart.  The  individual  is  lost  in 
the  multitude.  Science  usurps  the  place  of  sympathy. 
System  is  more  holy  than  the  human  person. 

The  situation  is  not  without  its  own  pathos  for  duty  lies 
in  two  directions.  We  must  hold  and  assert  all  that  is  effec- 
tive and  wholesome  in  the  work  of  the  past.  But  we  must 
seek  out  everything  that  is  helpful  in  what  is  new  and  effect 
improvement  in  service  by  absorbing  information,  by  adopt- 
ing the  lessons  of  experience  and  improving  our  standards  in 
the  light  of  newer  insight  into  social  relations  of  every  kind 
as  these  affect  the  poor.  Progress  thinks  little  of  sentiment 
and  of  memory  when  her  forward  steps  are  taken.  Some 
one  has  well  said  that  only  the  motive  in  charity  is  static. 
Methods  change.  This  is  so  true  that  the  champion  of 
change  to-day  will  in  his  turn  resist  the  innovations  that  will 
be  found  prevailing  a  generation  hence.  The  problem  of 
changing  methods  while  holding  to  spiritual  motive  is  well 
outlined  by  the  author  of  "Ecce  Home"  in  his  chapter  on 
"The  Law  of  Philanthropy." 

Conflict  between  the  old  and  the  new  occurs  everywhere 
in  the  social  world.  No  enduring  social  group  whatever  its 
aims  or  its  bonds  can  escape  it.  Stability  and  innovation, 
change  and  resistance  to  change,  are  permanent  factors  in 
the  organized  life  of  the  world.  Conservatism  and  radical- 
ism are  tendencies  implanted  in  nature  by  our  very  constitu- 
tion. Each  is  a  good  half  but  an  impossible  whole,  to  quote 
the  thought  of  Emerson.  The  problem  of  the  conservative 
is  not  primarily  that  of  maintaining  things  as  they  are. 
This  is  his  tendency  but  not  his  only  duty.  His  duty  is  to 
recognize  the  limitations  of  his  own  work  as  well  as  its 


192          SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHAEITY 

excellence  and  to  search  out  everything  that  is  approved  and 
effective  in  new  standards  and  new  ways.  The  problem  of 
the  radical  is  to  recognize  the  attractive  illusions  of  his 
ideal  and  to  protect  himself  against  feelings  and  aspirations 
that  he  is  disposed  to  accept  as  substitutes  for  information. 
When  conservatism  resists  all  tendencies  toward  change  and 
blindly  assumes  that  it  has  attained  to  final  wisdom,  it  creates 
situations  which  defeat  many  of  the  purposes  that  it  loves. 
When  radicalism  adopts  a  haughty  attitude,  yields  to  irrev- 
erence for  the  past  and  scorns  the  wisdom  of  our  elders,  it 
brings  discredit  upon  all  change  and  delays  the  progress  that 
it  would  further.  It  is  to  be  presumed  that  each  does  cer- 
tain things  well  but  makes  mistakes.  Progress  awaits  the 
combination  of  the  excellencies  of  both  and  the  elimination 
of  their  mistakes. 

We  live  in  a  time  of  general  and  brilliant  thought,  wide- 
spread social  research,  improved  insight  into  the  past  and 
present  of  human  society,  cheap  literature,  universal  read- 
ing, highly  trained  specialists,  constant  communication  of 
thought  over  seas  and  continents,  general  travel,  fearless 
criticism  of  everything,  comparisons  of  culture  and  impul- 
sive idealism.  There  are  no  frontiers  to  thought,  no  sancti- 
ties reserved  against  searching  examination.  The  tendency 
to  underrate  everything  old  and  overrate  everything  new  is 
widespread.  Sciences  have  multiplied  until  their  number 
and  their  theories  are  bewildering.  The  quantities  of  infor- 
mation heaped  about  us  promise  to  become  obstacles  to 
advancement.  All  of  this  is  intimately  associated  with  the 
principles  upon  which  modern  civilization  rests.  The  situ- 
ation is  accepted  and  dealt  with  patiently  by  the  world. 

The  collective  intelligence  of  humanity  has  turned  its 
serious  attention  to  the  problem  of  poverty.  Research  into 
its  causes  and  effects  is  universal.  The  seeking  out  of  facts, 
their  coordination  and  interpretation  have  gone  on  with  such 
speed  and  insight  as  to  have  revolutionized  all  judgment  of 
poverty  and  methods  of  dealing  with.  it.  Research  in  medi- 
cine, industry,  law,  sociology,  psychology,  historical  or  actual 


OLD  AND  NEW  193 

political  institutions  has  developed  points  of  view  and  aspir- 
ations concerning  the  conquest  of  poverty  to  which  no  friend 
of  scholarship  and  no  friend  of  the  poor  may  remain  indif- 
ferent. We  are  led  to  understand  the  organic  nature  of 
poverty,  to  see  in  it  the  outcome  of  processes  whose  origins 
lie  in  our  fundamental  institutions.  Our  eyes  are  lifted  from 
the  one  to  the  multitude.  We  look  upon  the  multitude  not 
superficially  but  profoundly.  We  see  strong  and  weak,  rich 
and  poor,  as  companion  phases  of  one  situation.  There  are 
a  score  of  specialized  lines  of  research  and  service  concern- 
ing child  welfare  problems  alone.  It  is  bewildering  to  note 
the  number  and  relations  of  specialized  fields  of  investiga- 
tions that  appear  in  the  study  of  poverty. 

Ideals  in  the  service  of  the  poor,  and  practical  aims  have 
felt  the  effect  of  this  tremendous  pressure  of  thought  and 
information.  The  heart  of  the  world  feels  stirred  to  under- 
take gigantic  tasks  in  the  interests  of  the  poor.  Countless 
movements  spring  up.  Endless  literature  is  produced. 
Conferences  without  number  are  held.  Experts  are  called 
hurriedly  from  one  end  of  the  continent  to  the  other  and 
across  the  seas  to  suggest,  to  compare,  to  organize,  in  the 
interests  of  the  weaker  social  classes.  Wealth  in  the  form 
of  endowments  for  research  in  problems  of  poverty  and 
relief  and  for  the  promotion  of  the  training  of  experts  is 
given  in  abundance.  The  highest  types  of  scholarship  give 
themselves  up  with  commendable  industry  to  specialized 
research  in  the  many  scientific  aspects  of  poverty  and  the 
poor.  We  may  make  as  much  allowance  as  we  wish  for  over- 
fine  research,  futile  effort  and  duplicated  industry.  We  may 
make  as  we  should,  full  allowance  for  mistaken  aims,  erring 
philosophy  and  faults  of  emphasis  in  practical  effort.  After 
the  most  generous  allowance  for  such  blemishes,  there 
remains  in  modern  effort  and  aspiration,  a  precious  deposit 
of  truth  and  wisdom  concerning  the  poor  and  the  relief  of 
them  which  cannot  fail  to  enrich  every  one  who  gives  him- 
self the  privilege  of  being  enriched  by  it. 

Our  Catholic  charities  have  not  yet  enriched  themselves 


194  SOCIAL  MISSION  OF  CHAEITY 

as  they  should  by  full  participation  in  these  results  of  mod- 
ern research  and  experience.  Perhaps  our  delay  in  develop- 
ing specialists  has  had  something  to  do  with  this.  Certainly 
our  delay  in  developing  systematic  instruction  and  special- 
ized training  has  had  much  to  do  with  it.  The  colossal  tasks 
of  immediate  relief  of  every  type  of  poor  have  so  engaged 
the  energy  and  sympathy  of  all  of  our  charities  as  to  have 
left  insufficient  time  for  reflection  and  research.  The  iso- 
lation that  has  been  possible  for  many  of  our  charities  may 
have  contributed  in  some  way  to  this  condition.  Practical 
tasks  involved  in  combining  the  best  in  our  traditions  with 
the  best  in  modern  thought  and  work  may  be  described  sim- 
ply although  its  realization  is  taxing  in  the  extreme. 

It  is  self-evident  that  we  must  do  our  utmost  to  insist 
upon  the  essential  spiritual  nature  of  the  service  of  the 
poor.  Social  service  as  a  profession,  detached  from  the 
spiritual  interpretation  of  life,  setting  forth  its  own  stand- 
ards, formulating  its  own  morality  will  remain  foreign  to 
us.  We  must  sustain  the  processes  that  have  searched  out 
the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  elect  souls  that  have  followed 
and  are  following  the  counsels  and  the  call  of  God  to  con- 
secrate themselves  to  the  service  of  the  poor  in  the  religious 
life.  We  must  maintain  the  spirit  and  standards  that  have 
led  our  laity  to  set  volunteer  service  of  the  poor  high  among 
the  valuations  that  guide  them,  and  we  must  wish  to  multiply 
the  number  of  volunteers  like  the  sands  of  the  sea  for  the 
sake  of  themselves  no  less  than  for  the  sake  of  the  poor 
whom  they  would  serve.  But  side  by  side  with  these  pre- 
cious factors  of  our  work,  we  must  welcome  and  encourage 
every  element  that  will  promote  the  happiest  union  of  Faith, 
Charity,  sympathy,  scholarship  and  power  in  the  service  of 
the  poor.  We  must  bring  to  the  noblest  of  all  social  causes, 
the  most  nearly  adequate  preparation  possible.  In  this  way, 
we  will  do  our  worthy  share  in  removing  all  ugliness  from 
poverty.  And  if  it  must  remain  always,  in  some  degree,  it 
may  be  honorable,  without  penalties  and  without  all  fear. 


INDEX 


Baldwin,  Professor,  124 
Bolshevism,  74 
Bourget,  Paul,  97 
Brotherhood,  Christian,  5,  7,  40 
Burke,  Edmund,  28 

Capital,  97 

Catholic    Charities    Review,    160, 

166 

Character,  in  Relation  to  Democ- 
racy, 28 
Charities 

Catholic,     6,     107,     119,     16  Iff., 
178ff.,   194 

Cooperation  in  Catholic,  134 

Directory  of  Catholic,  184 

Individualism  in  Catholic,  164f. 
Charity,  83ff.,  90 

Christian  Qualities  of,   117 

Fallacies  in,  92 

Obstacles  to,  86ff. 

Practical  Aims  of,  89 

Scientific,  7 

Christianity,  in  Relation  to  Pover- 
ty, 39 
Church 

Catholic,  5,  32 

Divine  Authority  of,  119 

Mission  of  Catholic,  33,  46,  52 
Classes,  Social,  13 
Competition 

In  Relation  to  Health,  17 

In  Relation  to  Character,  19 

Social  Consequences  of,  22 
Conferences  of  Charities,  186f. 
Conjunctur,  20 
Conrad,  48 
Conscience 

Individual,  57f.,  65 

Political,   62ff. 

Social,  60ff.,  65 
Cooperation,  131ff. 

In  Catholic  Charities,  134 
Culture,  84 


Delinquency,  53 
Democracy,  25,  28,  73,  77 
Devas,  76 
Direction,  Literature  of,  156 

Education,  18,  32 
Equality,  73ff.,  76 
Eugenics,  75 

Family,  Rehabilitation  of,  31 
Fordham  University,    189 
Franklin,  Benjamin,   122 

Health,    in    Relation    to    Competi- 
tion, 17 
Home 

Among  the  Poor,  31 

Ideal,  29f. 

Idealism,   112f. 
Ideals,  28,  193 

Christian,   12f. 
Individualism,  12,  24,  33,  48 

In  Catholic  Charities,  164f. 
Inequality,   10,   13,   15,  33,  79 

Mental,   18,  80 

Moral,  19,  81 

Physical,  17,  79 

Social,  20 

Inspiration,  Literature  of,  158 
Institutions,   64 

Interpretation,  Literature  of,  152 
Investigation,  Literature  of,  147 

Jesus  Christ,  32,  39,  75,  76,  85,  90, 

91,  92,  97,  117,  170 
Justice,  54ff. 

Among  the  Poor,  27 

Labor  Unions,  25 
Liberties,  Modern,  64 
Literature  of  Relief,  146ff. 
Lowell,  James  Russell,  27 
Loyola  University,  189 


195 


196 


INDEX 


Man,  Christian  Dignity  of,  75 
Moral  Law,  Relation  of,  to  Relief 
Work,  119 

National  Catholic  War  Council, 
165,  189 

National  Catholic  Welfare  Coun- 
cil, 5,  165,  189 

National  Conference  of  Catholic 
Charities,  160,  167,  170 

Neighbor,  lOlff. 

Newman,  Cardinal,  171 

O'Reilly,  John  Boyle,  149 
Organization      in      Relief      Work, 
123ff. 

Peabody,  Professor,  78 
Philosophy,  84 
Poor,  2,  23,  43 
Poverty 

Aa    a    Plight    of    Christianity, 
39 

As  a  Plight  of  Society,  37f. 

As  a  Plight  of  the  Individual, 
35f. 

As  a  Plight  of  the  State,  38 

Background  of,   10,   14,  23,   26, 
33 

Causes  of,  14,  34,  42,  57 

In  Relation  to  Sin,  20 

Injustice  in,  27 

Mastery  of,  4 

Mistaken  Views  of,  114 

Points   of  View  in,  6,  37,    109, 
120f. 

Quality  of,  44ff. 

Relative  Nature  of,  15 
Prevention,    124 
Privacy,  Social  R6le  of,  103 
Private  Initiative  in  Relief  Work, 
120 


Property,  22,  94ff. 

Spiritual  Obligations  of,  78 

Relief 

In  Relation  to  Moral  Law,  119 

Literature  of,    146ff. 

Organized,    123ff. 

Principles  in,  illff. 
Religion,  32,  85,   100,  107 

Divine  Character  of,  117 
Rights,  28,  63 

Political,   63 

Social,  67ff. 
Root,  Elihu,  27,  50 

Samaritan,  Good,  2,   101 
Sanders,  Miss  E.  K.,  90 
School,  Mission  of,  31 
Sin,  20,  52,  57,  87 
Social  Order,  49 
Social  Reenforcement,  20,  81 
Social  Work,  Standards  in,  185f. 
Social  Worker,  104,   134ff. 

Paid,  136f. 

Qualities  of,  139ff. 

Trained,  168f.,  182f. 

Volunteer,  135 
Socialism,    74 

Standards  in  Social  Work,  185 
State,  24ff.,  66,  80 

In  Relation  to  Poverty,  38 

Limitations    of,    26 

R6le  of,  in  Relief,  120f. 
Supplementary     Social     Constitu- 
tion, 133 
Surveys,  150, 178ff. 

Turner,   Right  Rev.   William,  9 
Todd,  Professor,  90 

Vincent  de  Paul,  Saint,  88 
Wealth,  Uses  of,  87,  97 


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